Self Destruct DISCONTINUED
by not without incident
Summary: A new mutant arrives on the scene. Pyro befriends her and they soon grow quite close. But with Pyro's violent personality and his growing attraction to the dark side, can their relationship survive? Or will it bring out the worst in both of them? Pyro&OC.
1. Another One

**Disclaimer: I don't own Xmen, but I own Mary.**

_A/N: If you're thinking this looks a lot like my fic 'The Beginning of the End', well, duh, cause it is. I decided to rewrite/edit it cause I didn't like where things were heading and I needed more information on the mutants. Thankfully, I've seen X3 now so I can continue with this fic. I hope it turns out better! (p.s. I hate MarySues so if my OC starts turning like one, please tell me so I can try to change it, or explain) Also, this story will start right before X2 and continue through to X3._

_---_

It was a late Friday afternoon, when two members of the X men and some of the older students traveled home after a 'fun' but excitement filled day at the planetarium.

Dr Jean Grey and Ororo Munroe, Storm, sat in the front seats; Jean driving, and Storm reading a booklet on the planets. Scott was in another car ahead, taking back some other students seeing as they couldn't all fit in the same vehicle.

In the next row of seats, behind Jean and Storm, Bobby and Rogue sat flirting quietly. In the back were two sets of double seats, facing each other. One side was occupied by Kitty Pryde and Jubilee who were looking at a fashion catalogue, making fun of the models, then by himself as usual, was John Allerdyce, or Pyro, flicking his lighter like there was no tomorrow. And for him, he felt there wasn't. He'd gotten in trouble at the planetarium for messing with a fiery display of the sun. Mysteriously the flames had flickered down then exploded. He dreaded returning to the mansion where Xavier would undoubtedly give him a lecture, on self-control.

Out of the blue, Storm's cell rang. She answered it. "Hello? Yes. Professor? Oh. Okay…we can do that." She ended the call then announced to all, but mainly Jean. "The professor wants us to pick up another mutant. He says she's at the airport."

Jean raised her eyebrows. The rest of the company sighed loudly. The airport was in the total opposite direction. So after Jean did a very illegal, 'quite shocking for her' U-turn, the mutants were off to the airport.

Kitty and Jubilee shifted their conversation from underweight models with strange hair to what the new mutant would be like.

* * *

Right out side of the terminal doors, a teenage girl, with shoulder length light blue hair, sat on a bench. Her only baggage seemed to be a black Adidas backpack. 

The girl was of medium height, and had a slim figure. She wore a pair of jeans, a black tee with the Union Jack on the front, a pair of black converse, a long black coat and big dark shades. She kept fiddling with her hair, and finally decided to throw on a beanie.

Mary Connelly had been sitting outside on the bench for a long while, slowly getting hungry and more anxious. She was new to the city, new to the country. She'd come over from the UK, on her parents' wishes to seek out a special school run by a man named Xavier. The only problem was, she had not a clue where to go. And so far, no one had been able to give her directions. Or perhaps her hair had led people to believe she was some sort of rebellious teen, and not to be trusted.

Mary was just to the point of giving up and looking into buying a return ticket, when a stunning lady with light brown skin and pure white hair, stepped up to her.

* * *

"I wonder what's going on!" said Jubilee, who kept looking out of the window for Storm and the new mutant to arrive. She always got a bit excited in these situations for she liked meeting new mutants. 

"Maybe he's putting up a fight!" said Kitty, who was determined the new mutant was a boy, since the last was a girl- Rogue. Rogue tried to point out to her that Storm had said it was a girl, but to no avail.

John rolled his eyes, and began flicking the lid of his lighter, but a thoughtful look formed on his face. Jubilee and Kitty's talk had got him thinking about the newcomer. He hoped it'd be someone he could hang with. He was tired of his endless third wheeling to Bobby and Rogue. He could tell they were only trying to be polite. John was so caught up with his speculations of what the new student would be like, that he almost jumped at the sound of the backdoor opening.

Everyone in the car turned around to get a good look at the new mutant. John raised an eyebrow. It was a girl! But he couldn't see her face clearly for she wore big shades. John moved over so she could sit down next to him. He surveyed her carefully.

Mary smiled nervously at the faces, as she climbed into the car. Obviously they'd all be staring at her. She was new, after all. She sat down in the only spare seat, next to a boy with dark brown hair. She slowly took off her shades, and put them in her bag. Mary felt the eyes watching her so she didn't look up.

The car had suddenly grown very quiet. No one seemed to know what to say, but they were all curious about Mary and Mary about the rest of them. Bobby wondered where the girl was from, and Rogue wondered why she had so little luggage. Jean considered reading her mind. Jubes had noticed Mary's coloured hair and wondered if it was just the light tricking her. Kitty was still kind of surprised that the new student was a girl. John however was wondering if he could be friends with this girl, but not make it seem that he was desperate for one.

Despite being the center of attention, Mary reached into her bag and pulled out her cellphone. She tried turning it on, but after awhile she realized it wouldn't work. No service.

No one spoke, as Storm closed the backdoor and headed back to her own seat. As soon as the car began pulling out of the airport, she spoke up.

"Guys…this is Marina Connelly. Mary is from the UK. And I suppose you all can introduce yourselves."

At the word 'UK' everyone looked around at each other. Rogue was really interested in hearing Mary's accent, oddly enough.

"I'm Jean Grey," said the driver, turning around slightly and smiling. Mary thought that Jean was quite pretty but she sensed something slightly fierce under the friendly exterior. Mary nodded, and smiled back politely.

It was obvious that Jubilee wanted to say something, as she kept whispering and nudging Kitty. But Bobby spoke next, and supposedly for everyone else. "I'm Bobby. This is Rogue, Kitty, Jubilee and John." John wondered why Bobby always had to take command of everything, but John did nothing except nod at Mary, when she smiled at him. He figured he might blurt out something stupid since everything he said or did seemed to piss someone off.

---

Mary looked around at all the faces, whilst Bobby, a boy with bright blue eyes, in the second row to the front, introduced them all. Unfortunately Mary wasn't good at remembering stuff, that fast. She gave the boy sitting next to her a smile. He stared back, and nodded. Mary frowned slightly, then looked across at the two girls in front of her.

"So…what made you come to our school?" asked Kitty, after awhile. Jubilee nodded.

"Well…it's a long story…" Mary sounded a bit Scottish. She didn't know where to begin, or what she'd tell them. She couldn't trust them with the _real_ story yet. Mary began wondering what the rest of the students' powers were. If they attended the school she would be going to, that meant they were obviously mutants too.

Mary glanced over at the boy next to her. She wondered if he was fighting a smoking addiction for he'd been playing with a lighter every time she'd looked at him.

"That's okay. So, what are your powers?" asked Jubilee, excitedly. "I can make sparks in my hand," she said with no hesitation. "And Bobby can make ice, and-"

Kitty interjected. "I can phase through things." It looked like she was going to continue, but was interrupted by Storm who'd decided to jump in on the conversation.

"So what's your gift, Mary?" she asked, looking back. There was that silence again, when everyone waited for Mary's response.

"Well…it's sort of hard to explain, but…part of it is being able to sense life energy, you know, like a person's aura; sort of like a low-grade psychic." She paused, thinking about it. Sure, not only could she could sense people's auras, but also could she manipulate their thoughts. She rarely told people that though, or else they probably wouldn't trust her. "I can also do this…" She held out her hand and a small silvery orb appeared. To John it reminded him of a silver ball of flame; to Bobby, perhaps, dry ice.

"That's so pretty!" noted Kitty.

Mary smiled weakly. Sure, it was pretty, but its power had to come from somewhere and at the moment she was too exhausted. Mary began feeling slightly dizzy and the silver orb disappeared. Before anyone could ask her another question, her eyes had closed and she'd fallen over, leaning on John's shoulder- not that he really objected.

"Mary…?" asked Jubilee, she'd wanted to ask about Mary's hair.

"She's probably just tired guys, she's flown all the way here from Europe, after all," said Storm.

The rest of the group agreed and slowly went back to doing whatever they were before. Except for John who was staring at the sleeping Mary with a hint of a smile on his face.


	2. New Places, New Faces

When Mary woke up, she found herself lying in a soft bed, staring up at a milk white ceiling. The room was dark and still. She sat up. Her coat was draped over the back of a chair and her backpack was sitting in the seat. She spotted her converse on the floor next to the chair. Her belongings…but not her room.

Mary climbed out from under the sheets, and sat on the edge of the bed. Her watch lay on her beside side table. She looked at it closely. It was roughly 10 am. She frowned. It couldn't be. Everything was still dark.

She looked around. She was alone in the room, but she could sense living beings not too far off. Mary crept over to the window, and pulled back a curtain to peer outside. She realized her mistake. It was still fairly dark outside. Mary turned around, letting the curtain fall back.

Bright green flashing numbers caught her eye. On top of a dresser, opposite her bed, against the wall was a digital clock. It read 5 am.

Oh! Mary understood now, as all the events of the day before rushed back to her. Firstly, her watch was still set on UK time. Secondly, she remembered that she was at Xavier's school for the gifted in New York.

Mary slowly walked back to her bed, mumbling to herself, as she reset her watch. Her stomach grumbled and her head ached. _'Oh, shite…'_ She hadn't eaten since…she didn't even know! The time change had totally confused her. But having slept through her arrival, she didn't even know where 'the bloody kitchen' was. How did she even end up in this room anyways?

Nevertheless, being bored, hungry and wide awake; Mary decided that maybe wandering around the halls would be fun. It'd give her a chance to figure out her surroundings and explore a little. Mary set her watch down on her bed, then ventured out into the dark, empty hall.

* * *

John awoke with a start. He sat up in bed, and ran a hand through his hair, scanning the room groggily. He'd had another strange dream about world domination, and mutant power reigning, and this time it'd felt so real. 

John stretched and swung his feet around, placing them on the cool wooden floor. He stretched again, then trudged (partially asleep) towards the bathroom to take a shower. He needed to fully wake himself up.

When he emerged, a time later, he dressed in jeans and a loose tee shirt. He didn't worry about his hair. It was too early for hair. John grabbed his shark lighter, from off his small night table. He always carried it with him, but for now he'd decided to go to the kitchen and grab a bite to eat before the kitchen became overrun with hungry kids.

---

The sun's first rays were streaking across the sky and through the windows, into theempty hallway where most of the boy's dorms were. John rubbed his eyes and yawned before traipsing down a set of stairs, occasionally missing a step and stumbling. _'Why am I up this early? It's friggin' Saturday!'_

As John entered another hallway, eventually leading off to the girls sleeping quarters, he heard another pair of footsteps heading towards him. He stopped walking. The sounds of footsteps silenced too.

"Hey! Who is it?" he asked. In the dim light he saw it was a girl; a blue haired girl? _'Oh, Mary!'_

John had almost forgotten about the new mutant who'd arrived the previous evening. But now he remembered that she'd totally conked out in the car on the way home. Storm had said it was because the girl was jetlagged. Perhaps, but John wasn't entirely convinced. He'd been the one to carry Mary up to her room and she'd never even stirred.

John observed that Mary was still wearing her clothes from yesterday, and her hair was tied in a loose bun.

"Hi…it's only me," she whispered meekly, as she stepped out of the shadows towards John. The truth is, Mary had been wandering for a fair while, ultimately going in circles and was glad to finally meet up with someone else.

"Yeah," said John, smiling. "Mary…right?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry, but what's your name again?" Sure enough, Mary hadn't caught everyone's names. She smiled at him apologetically.

"John…Allerdyce." He returned the smile, since he didn't want her to feel bad. But then again, why should _he_ care? John never cared, right?

"Ah…John," Mary nodded; now recalling him as the boy who'd sat next to her. She noticed he still had the lighter. "Do you smoke?" she asked, curiously.

"Huh?" John followed her eyes to his lighter. He chuckled. "No. Why?" The true answer was yes, but who needed to know?

"Well…you're always carrying that thing around." She pointed to the lighter in his hand.

'_That thing?'_ John frowned. "Always? How would _you _know? You just got here!"

"Okay…" Mary said in a level voice. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. This _John_ was definitely not a morning person, but neither was she under normal circumstances. "Then…why do you have it now?"

"Look, just because someone owns a lighter, does not make them a smoker!" he said, in a slightly raised voice.

"Blimey! All I did was ask a simple question. There's no need for you to get all cross!" Mary shook her head, sighed, and then added with a smirk, "What are you then…some kind of pyromaniac?"

This caught John a bit off guard, and he was about to make a comment about her passing out, when…

"Good morning!" Mary and John turned to see who was speaking. It was Peter!

"Hey Peter…" said John, but he was watching Mary's reaction. She was staring at Peter with wide eyes for to her, he was really kind of big.

"I guess you're the new girl, huh?" asked Peter, extending a hand for Mary to shake. "I saw a bit of you last night, but you were sleeping."

Mary nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, probably," and shook his hand. "I'm Mary."

"Well, _Mary_, I like your hair." He smiled. "I'm Peter, as you may have already guessed. Pleased to meet you." Then he looked over at John. "So… what got _you_ up this early?" He grinned.

John however was less amused. He'd been doing fine talking to Mary without Peter showing up. It wasn't like he had anything against Peter, but he'd kind of wanted Mary for himself, as selfish and strange as that sounded. He figured it was going to end up like Rogue- when she was new, he'd tried to impress her but then Bobby interfered.

John shrugged at Peter's question and threw it back at him. "Why are_ you_ awake?"

"Exercise. I'm going for a jog then I'm going to work out a bit. But of course, _you_, John, wouldn't know that, seeing as you're never awake at this time." Peter smiled and Mary gave a soft laugh. John fumed. Peter may have been joking, but to him it seemed like a personal attack. Was Peter _trying_ to make him look bad?

"So…you do this every morning?" asked Mary, looking at his muscled arms. It didn't look like he needed anymore pumping up.

Peter nodded. "So…are you guys heading anywhere, or…just standing around in the hall, in the dark, which is kind of weird."

Mary laughed. "No…I was…um…trying to find the kitchen." She thought about her failed attempts of exploration around the school, which apparently was bigger than she thought.

"Well…I can show you on my way out," offered Peter, good-naturedly. Mary smiled. "You coming too, Johnny?"

John frowned. He wasn't particularly keen on being called that, especially from Peter. He shook his head. "No…" His hunger was building up, but he wasn't hungry enough to want to hang around Peter.

"Okay," said Peter, seemingly not put off by this. "Let's go…"

John watched Peter lead Mary down the hall. Mary turned around briefly to look at him and John quickly shifted his eyes to look down at the lighter in his hand. Click. Click. He was playing with the lid again.

As soon as the two were out of sight, John dawdled around some more before slowly heading back to his bedroom.

* * *

Peter and Mary were almost at the kitchen, after a series of halls and stairs. _'I'll probably need a map just to get back to my room'_, she thought. 

Along their walk, they'd been having a nice little chat. He asked her where she was from. She asked him about the school, things like that. But all the while, she found her mind drifting off to John, the lighter wielder.

"Here we are…" said Peter. They were stopped at the beginning of a short corridor. "It's the first door on the left," he said. Mary thanked him, then he left to do his thing and she pursued the kitchen. Mary walked down the short hall and turned left into what seemed to be, at last, the kitchen.

As she entered the kitchen, she was surprised to find someone already there, sipping coffee (although theoretically, she should have been able to sense his aura). From what Mary could tell, it was a youngish man with a strange set of shades on. The man looked up.

"Hello, you must be Mary," he smiled.

"Yes…" she answered slowly. She guessed he was another mutant, that'd met her while she was in her deep sleep.

"I'm Scott Summers," continued the man. "Cyclops."

"Pleased to meet you," she said. Mary looked around the kitchen. "Um…is there anyway I could get something to eat?"

"Sure, let me show you around," offered Scott. He got up and showed her around the kitchen. Once Mary seemed sure of what was there, he said. "It was nice meeting you, but I have some work I need to get an early start on. So I'll see you later." The last thing he'd done on his way out was show Mary where the living room was, so now she was settled in a comfy chair, eating a bowl of Captain Crunch.

---

Mary was in the middle of watching a rerun of Friends, when she heard voices coming from behind her. She turned around and saw a stream of kidsentering the room. _'Ah, Saturday morning cartoons,'_ she thought. The kids paused for a moment, not knowing who she was and wondering if they wouldn't be able to watch their programs. But Mary, being a generally nice being, gave up the remote (even though one kid didn't need it to change channels), and watched "Scooby Doo" with the kids. Not that she objected to the show, actually.

* * *

John finally got to the kitchen, after going to his room and deciding that he was too hungry to just mope around. He was still a bit annoyed over the situation and wondered if Mary thought he was a total jerk now. 

Unfortunately for John, the kitchen was already packed with the early morning 'cartoon fanatics'. John pushed his way to the cereal cupboard and grabbed his box of Captain Crunch. He made a swift escape back to his room. There he'd eat and maybe sleep a bit more.

As John walked back up to his room, munching on his cereal, he noticed that the contents were a bit lower than the last he'd checked. He'd have to remember to yell at some little kids when he got back.


	3. Drama

After breakfast, Mary was found by Storm to be shown around the mansion. For this, Mary was thankful for she hadn't been looking forward to searching for her room. Joining Storm and Mary for the mini-tour, was Dr Jean Grey. It so happened, as Mary found out, that Jean happened to be the fiancée of man whom Mary had met in the kitchen- Scott.

They showed Mary around the mansion then took her to meet Prof Xavier himself. He asked for a demonstration of her powers. Mary only showed him the silvery orb she could make and explained to him its uses. She'd taken a guess that he was telepathic and such, so he probably new far more about her than she'd let on to anyone. Finally, he let her go, after wishing her well. She'd had to give him her alias name, too: Psyche.

She was free for the afternoon.

As Mary walked down the hall back to her dorm, Storm, who'd been waiting outside Xavier's office, caught up with her.

"Mary…I noticed yesterday you didn't have very much luggage…Do you have everything you need?" Storm was mainly referring to the fact that Mary was still wearing yesterday's clothes.

"Oh…well actually no." Mary had left for her trip so fast that she hadn't packed nearly anything. But one doesn't usually worry about possessions when on the run.

Storm nodded, thinking of how light Mary had packed. Mary continued. "I have a bit of money with me, though. I suppose I could get it exchanged at the bank sometime."

Storm nodded and smiled, offering to take Mary to the mall to get stuff. They agreed to leave in about half an hour so after thanking her, Mary ran off to get ready, hoping that she actually knew where she was running off to. As Mary got closer to her room, she saw John and a few others from the other night, standing outside the door, talking. She remembered the others as Bobby, Rogue…and was it Kitty?

"So…there you are," said Kitty, smiling at Mary. The others looked over at her. John's face brightened a bit.

"So here I am!" said Mary, smiling back at all of them. She smiled at John too, but he looked away._ 'Stubborn git.'_

"I thought that today we could hang out or something," said Kitty.

"Yeah, we'd like to get to know you better," smiled Rogue. John crossed his arms and tried to look as though he were thoroughly bored by the situation.

"Oh…" Mary paused. "Well, Storm was going to take me to the mall. There're some things I need to get, well…a lot of things, seeing as I didn't really pack much."

Kitty nodded and looked at Rogue. They looked a bit disappointed, but an idea hit Mary. "Why don't you guys come with us, then?"

Kitty beamed. "Really? Cool."

Rogue nodded. "Okay, that sounds like fun…if you don't mind."

"No, the more the merrier. How about you lads?" she asked Bobby and John.

Bobby laughed, and shook his head. "No thanks…" he declined. _'A mall plus girls equals boy carrying lots of bags…' _he thought to himself.

John also shook his head. A part of him had almost wanted to say yes, but he wasn't in the mood for clothes, and tons of people. However, the girls seemed not to care as they followed Mary into her room. Mary quickly grabbed her coat, shades, shoes (yes, she'd been walking around in sock feet all this time) and the money from her bag then left, with the other girls to meet Storm by the front door.

* * *

It was now after lunch. The girls had already been gone for a few hours, and others, back at the mansion, were still doing the typical 'I can be lazy cause it's Saturday' thing. Bobby and John, however, were outside looking for one of the kids who could turn invisible. Apparently, the kid had gotten upset by another and had disappeared. Cyclops had given them the task to find him. 

"So…what do you think of her?" asked Bobby. He just had to ask.

"Think what of who?" asked John. But he was pretty sure he knew who 'her' was. He just wondered why Bobby had to bring it up. Maybe if he ignored him, Bobby would shut up.

Bobby looked over at John, who seemed way too interested in a bush. "Mary…duh."

"Mary? Egh…she's just another mutant!" he said casually. But that's exactly what she was. Another mutant. Nothing special there…

"Uh huh…well I hear that Peter kind of likes her." Bobby wondered if this would set a spark. From the disgusted and slightly upset look on John's face, he was correct.

"Peter?" Pyro remembered the brief meeting in the hall. He now regretted not going with them. "So what?" he added, trying to sound nonchalant over the whole deal.

"So…if I were you…I'd act fast."

"Maybe…wait, what?" It'd taken John a moment to realize he'd fallen into Bobby's trap and how did Bobby know _any_ways?

"So you _do_ like her?" asked Bobby with a grin.

John scowled. "I never said that."

"Yeah, but last night you looked real happy there, with her sleeping on you…and then when you carried her up to her room?" True, John would rarely offer his help to anyone, not unless he was getting something out of it.

"Whatever. You're reading to much into this," muttered John. Although he didn't feeling like discussing his feelings with Bobby, he _had_ at least listened to what he had to say and maybe the iceman was right. But still, who ever said Mary was interested in him?

Bobby noticed a rustle in a hedge up ahead. He shot a stream of ice towards it. The outline of a boy appeared, frozen in place.

"Hey!" exclaimed a voice. The boy reappeared, covered in ice.

John and Bobby smirked, and looked at each other. At least one problem had been solved.

* * *

"Girls…I think we should be leaving soon," said Storm, who despite herself was having a lot of fun. 

After a trip to the bank, to exchange a sum of pounds, the girls had proceeded to the shops. The small group of Mary, Storm, Rogue, and Kitty had infiltrated almost every shop in the mall, and tried on half the clothes (just for fun). Mary had claimed to dislike shopping, but that seemed, now, to be debatable. She'd bought a lot of items: clothes, accessories, toiletries, luxuries, and in the end, they had quite a few bags. But that was to be expected since all that Mary had apparently packed was an ipod, spare shirt and spare undergarments. She was _that_ rushed then?

"Aww," said Kitty.

They were eating a late lunch in the food court, and Kitty had been making eye contact with some random guy. But they all agreed it was getting late and should get back, before Xavier tracked them down on Cerebro or something. They quickly finished the rest of their lunch, and headed back out to the car.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the mansion, John was back inside, sitting in the living room. The invisi-boy had been de-frozen and sent to Xavier for a talking to. Bobby was in the kitchen looking for a between meal snack. John kept mulling Bobby's words over and over in his mind. Peter and Mary…? Mary and Peter? He hated himself for not doing something different when he had the chance. 

Why had he acted so short with her? John wondered if he possessed another mutant power. Repellency. No matter how hard he tried, or perhaps when he didn't even give a care, people would always be turned away from him. Click, click. John was getting restless.

The sound of a door opening and loud voices let John know that the shoppers were back. John got up from his chair, and made his way to the door. His plan was to greet them all in a friendly fashion and offer to carry their bags, but…

Not to his surprise, Peter was already there, carrying practically every bag. John retreated back to the living room until the hall was silent again. Once everyone had passed through, he snuck out and crept up to his room.

---

_A/N: I didn't know this until after already writing my story, but Psyche is actually the name of another mutant in the comics. Gah! Her powers are semi-similar to Mary's but I don't really care. There can only be so many options for mutants right? Hopefully, I'll get Chapter 4 up in a few hours, but I've reached a slight hitchin the plot. But no worries, I'll figure it out!_


	4. Mary

_A/N: This chapter is mainly for you to get to know the OC a bit better._

---

Mary let out a sigh of relief as she flopped down on her bed. Her bags of shopping sat in a tiny mountain on the floor. She couldn't even remember half of what she bought. Mary was just relieved to finally get away from all the others, as nice as they may be. Although she tried to be a friendly and outgoing girl, Mary had always been rather quiet and withdrawn, liking her personal space. So she'd told everyone that she needed some more time to rest; the jetlag was catching up with her. Storm had agreed and shooed everyone away from the room.

Mary smiled. So far she'd done a good job of keeping a low profile. No one had any reason to suspect her anyways. Mary Connelly was just another mutant in search of a mutant friendly community. The real story: Mary was part of a mutant rebel group trying to protest against the Anti-mutant activities in the UK. They'd started off with negotiations, but when that failed they'd settled with attacking humans.

The Connelly's, fearful of the police tracing their daughter, had decided to send Mary far away from the violence. Perhaps, if Mary weren't in company of the other rebels, she'd calm down and be safer. Mary had been over using her power, a danger to herself and others.

Little did they know, their daughter was to befriend 'the worst one'. To Xavier they'd explained that they just wanted to find a place for their daughter to be safe, and learn to manage her powers responsibly. But knowing Xavier, he probably knew the whole story already.

---

Mary lay on her bed another few minutes before fetching Kitty's laptop, which she'd gotten permission to use. Kitty said she knew how it felt to be away from family, so she'd understand if Mary wanted keep close contact.

Mary sat back down on the bed, placing the laptop in front of her. She pressed the 'on' button and tapped her fingers on her knee until the screen came up. Then, clicking on a button for the wireless Internet connection, she quickly accessed her email account.

There were a few junk, a few from random people who'd gotten hold of her address, and then some from her family and close friends. She clicked on one from her parents. They were just wondering if she'd arrived safely. Mary typed them a hasty reply, and moved on to the other messages. One was from a fellow mutant rebel, and close friend, named Razor.

_Hey Mary! Wats it like in America? The yanks givin ya 2 much trouble?_

Mary rolled her eyes.

_Its weird with ya not bein here and all. Anywayz…we've had 2 lay low for a bit, after a few mutant arrests up in London. Ur lucky to be in a place that's all mutant friendly, right? Maybe you can start something over there! Anyways I g2g, cause I'm not meant to be on the computer right now. (privileges got taken away after parents found one of my knives under my pillow. Hehe) Miss ya_!

Mary chuckled. Razor's mutant ability was that the skin on his hands was shark-like (very sharp when rubbed in a certain direction). Thus, he always wore protective leather gloves and had a strange obsession with knives and other sharp objects.

Mary decided to reply to him.

_Hey Theo!_

Razor's real name was Theodore.

_America's not to bad, eh! The people seem friendly enough…You lot better not to anything stupid whilst I'm gone. When I return, if I do, I want you all alive and in one piece. Mkays? I don't think I'll be able to start any revolts around this place. The head of the school is a psychic! Anyways…I'm too lazy to type anymore…byeeeeee…!_

_Miss you loads_!

She clicked the send button and moved on.

The next email was from another one of Mary's mutant friends, saying practically the same thing, except that the gang was getting restless from having to keep on the low. Mary wrote a quick reply and was just getting into an email from one of her brothers when someone knocked on her bedroom door.

"Come in…" she said, closing the window for her email.

Mary looked up to see Storm walking in.

"Oh, hello, Storm…" said Mary, closing the laptop and putting it off to her side.

Storm smiled at the blue-haired girl. "May I?" Mary nodded and made room for Storm to sit down on the bed. "So…how are you liking it so far?" asked Ororo.

Out of all the mutants Mary had met so far, apart from John, Mary liked Storm's company the best. At the airport, Storm had reassured Mary of the situation and comforted her. Storm just seemed to really care about Mary's well being and Mary was already beginning to think of Storm as the older sister she'd never had.

"It's been interesting," said Mary. Luckily, Mary hadn't been affected by culture shock since it wasn't her first time in the States. "I've met some nice people." Mary thought about John. Was he really all that nice? But there was something about him that she liked. She sensed something in his aura that appealed to her. _'Though, he probably hates me by now…'_ she thought sadly.

Storm looked pleased. "Good, that's good. We have…anice set of kids here," she commented.

Mary nodded and stared at Storm's hair. That had really been one of the first things she'd noticed at their first meeting. "You like it?" asked Storm. Mary grinned and nodded.

"You have a nice shade there, yourself," said Storm. Mary's hair was a light blue, but it seemed a bit darker underneath and nearer to the roots.

Mary gave a small smile. "Well…it wasn't always like this." There was a silence, and Mary seemed to be recalling something in her mind.

Ororo stood up, looking at her watch. "Well, it's almost dinner time, if you're hungry."

"Okay!" Mary hopped off the bed, with a smile on her face. Whatever memory had sprung back into her mind had now been pushed to the side.

Then the two set off for the cafeteria.

* * *

John had been lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling for ages (ever since Mary's return from the mall, when he'd scurried away to hide in his room). Only 'hide' wasn't a word he liked to use. If he was hiding, that meant that he was scared…a wimp. And John was not a wimp!

John was still thinking about Mary and Peter. For all he knew, they were probably making out right now. John's imagination was running away from him, but most likely to his benefit for he finally decided to get out of bed and go look for the girl…or confront Peter.

No…he couldn't do that! Then everyone would think he liked Mary. And maybe he did, yeah, he probably did, but that wasn't the issue, was it?

John opened the door of his room, and full of determination he strode down the hall and down a set of stairs. It only occurred to him now that he had no idea where she'd be, but he didn't have to worry for long for he spotted her blue head of hair up ahead.

"Mary!" he called out to her. She was standing at the top of stairs leading down to the main part of the mansion. When she heard her name, she turned around to look at him.

John quickened his pace towards her, but he instantly slowed down as he saw Storm, Jean and Scott come out of a side room and join Mary. Mary was still staring at him, wondering why he'd called her name, and this called the others to all stare at him too.

"Are you coming down to eat?" asked Jean. Storm and Mary already began down the stairs. John shrugged. "Okay then…" said Jean.

It was only when John was sure they'd all cleared the stairway that he started down the stairs towards the cafeteria. He wondered when and if he'd ever get a chance to talk to Mary. Of course, he'd probably missed a few opportunities already, but he was being immature and selfish and wanted to talk to her alone.


	5. Feelings

Mary had hardly touched her food but she'd already drunk three bottles of water. She had been sitting with the staff, at their table, until Kitty and Jubilee tracked her down and dragged her over to sit with them. She didn't care either way, for she'd found Jean and Storm to be nice company and then Kitty and Jubes, were, well…Kitty and Jubes.

"Aren't you going to eat?" asked Kitty, looking at Mary's hardly touched salad.

"Huh?" Mary had been staring into her food thinking about John. Why had he called to her if he'd been avoiding her all day? She'd sensed his presence near the door, on her way into the mansion after coming back from the mall. A coincidence? She didn't think so.

"Earth to Mary!" said Jubilee, poking Mary in the shoulder and zapping her gently.

"Hey!" Mary laughed. "That kind of tickles…" Mary brushed some of her blue hair from her face and reached for another bottle of water.

"You sure drink a lot," commented Kitty, taking a bite of pizza.

Mary shrugged. "Sometimes I just get a little thirsty."

"No kidding…" smirked Jubes. "Why don't you try eating? It's fun too!" she joked.

"Oh-kay," said Mary, smiling. She picked up a slice of pizza from her plate and took a bite. Then suddenly her eyes caught hold of something across the room and she almost jumped. She dropped her slice of pizza.

"What's wrong?" asked Kitty, trying to follow Mary's gaze, but Mary was already looking somewhere else.

"Um…please excuse me…" Mary jumped off from her seat and exited the cafeteria.

---

Back at the staff table, Ororo had been watching Mary leave, and Jean said, "I'm sure the professor didn't mean _all _the time. Give the girl a break." The professor had instructed Ororo to be a sort of mentor and guardian over Mary in case she went back to old habits. However, Ororo had grown a liking to the girl.

Ororo nodded, but she still wondered what had made Mary leave so suddenly. "Yeah, I guess I should give it a rest for a while."

Jean smiled. "Is someone getting protective?"

"Well, I'm not like you Jean. I can't instantly know what everyone is doing all the time." Ororo paused. "What _is_ she doing?"

Jean laughed. "Don't worry. She's still in the mansion so I'm sure she's fine."

* * *

And Mary _was_ fine, but what she'd seen in the cafeteria had startled her. After spending most of supper looking for him, BAM, there he'd been right across from her…staring straight at her. It had definitely freaked her out and as soon as John had noticed her staring back at him, he'd made a hasty exit. 

Mary wondered where he could've gone. There were so many people in close proximity, that it was almost hard for her to differentiate their auras, let alone follow John's. Mary soon found herself walking down a long narrow passage. She didn't' know where it led put she sensed something could be there.

"Hey!"

Mary turned around so fast that she found herself standing in the exact same position. She turned around again.

"John?" She almost couldn't think of a reaction. Happy? Annoyed? Still freaked out?

John was leaning casually against the wall as though he'd been standing there awhile. "Where do you think you're going?" His tone sounded so demanding that for a second Mary felt a bit nervous.

"I was…looking for you, I guess." She felt a bit stupid now. What would he think of her? But then again, he was the one doing the staring during dinner.

"Oh…" This made John feel a bit better. For a while neither of them seemed like they knew what to say. This pause gave Mary enough time to gather up her courage again.

"So what were you doing in the cafeteria, staring at me like that? And earlier you called out my name and then…just said nothing. Why? " She looked at him seriously. So Mary wanted answers. Well, John didn't quite want to give them yet.

John sighed and walked away from the wall towards Mary. "So…how was the mall?" He stood in front of her; hands on his hips. "I saw you bought a lot of stuff; had a lot of bags…but I guess Peter took care of all that, huh?"

"What?" Mary had no clue where John was trying to go with this. "So…so…you _were _at the door… You could've offered to help, you know."

John shook his head. "No, I think Peter had it covered."

"Peter? What's with you and Peter? And why are you avoiding my questions?"

"So I was in the cafeteria- big deal! I just happened to see you an-"

"-And you took off!"

"I did not…I was on my way out anyway."

Mary sighed. "So what about…earlier when you called my name and then…nothing?"

John shrugged. "I…I forgot what I was going to say."

"Oh really?" Mary looked unconvinced. "Well do you remember now?"

Here was his chance. It was now or probably never, but now that the time had come…he didn't know what to say. Click, click, click, click…

"Oh hell, it's the lighter again…" sighed Mary. She could tell that John was struggling with what to say. She herself was still a bit puzzled by the whole thing. But now she had started to wonder. Surely this wasn't about their little spat in the morning (although the 'lighter' topic had seemed to have made its rounds).

Click, click, click… A small flame rose out of the lighter and John held it in front of him. He stared at it and after staring for a while in silence; Mary raised an eyebrow and began staring too, out of curiousity. _'Is something meant to-' _she began to think, but didn't finish her thought for the flame suddenly began to grow and grow.

Mary's eyes widened and she looked at John's face. He seemed a bit despondent, but when he noticed her surprised expression, he smirked. After words had failed him, John had sought for something else to bring her attention. Of course his mutant powers would have been an obvious choice. He remembered Bobby freezing the fireball he'd made for Rogue. Well there was no Bobby now.

Mary gasped slightly as the flame leapt from the lighter, to John's hand. She seemed speechless.

"You can call me Pyro," he said. "I don't smoke…I burn." And with those last words the flames leapt higher and Mary took a step back.

"So…that accounts for the lighter…" She grinned, as Pyro closed his hand into a fist and the flames died. "I'm sorry, but…you could have told me, you know."

John shrugged. She was probably right, but he liked to do things Pyro-style.

"So…if you carry a lighter, that means you can't create the fire, right?"

Inside, John felt a bit dispirited. Someone always had to bring that up, or compare him to Bobby. "Yeah, I can only manipulate it," he admitted.

Mary nodded, understanding. "Well…I know how that feels. My power, you know, this…" She held out her hand and a small silver orb appeared. "My power could kill me. It uses my own body strength. I learned that the hard way." Mary let the orb fade out and she ran a hand through her blue hair. "But I've found that if I keep hydrated then I don't have to worry about…side effects."

Now things made a little more sense. "Is that why you passed out last night?" asked John.

"Yeah, I was tired and hungry." She shook her head. "My mum would've killed me, had she found out." Mary laughed, then Pyro laughed. Things seemed to be easing up a bit, although, he still hadn't told her his feelings.

"Is there something on your mind?" she asked. Although she could manipulate minds, she wasn't a psychic or telepath. She mostly had to rely on what she sensed in a person's aura. "You seem…anxious."

Pyro shook his head.

"Hmm…I remember just now you mentioned something about Peter. Do you have a problem with him?"

Pyro said nothing. So Mary continued.

"He seems like a really nice guy, you know. I think there's something going on between him and Kitty."

Pyro shrugged. He was wondering whether, in conversation with another person, Mary would describe him as 'a nice guy'. He also wondered why her opinion mattered so much to him. However, her Peter-Kitty newsflash had made him feel a lot less resentful towards Peter.

"Um…Pyro?" asked Mary. She wondered if something she's said had made him angry again, for he was staring at his lighter with a halting expression. Mary was starting to get the feeling that Pyro didn't really like Peter. It was always hard to figure out people's social standings when you first met them.

"Yeah…?" Pyro had been contemplating whether or not to tell her, but it seemed to him, sort of stupid since it was still her first day. He didn't want her getting the wrong impression.

"Just checking…" she grinned and then yawned. "But I probably better get to bed," she said. It wasn't even that late, but she was still feeling a bit jetlagged. "Do you want to walk with me? I mean, so I don't get lost and all."

Pyro agreed. Now that the whole ordeal was mainly over with, he felt rather weary himself. As the two walked down the passage and slowly made for the stairs leading up to the bedrooms, Pyro felt a hand slipping into his. He smiled to himself and looked down at Mary. Maybe tomorrow…

---

_A/N: Gah! The last bit was kind of fluffy and do relationships really start that fast? I guess in some cases they do; I've seen it happen. However, it's not official yet. Anyone can hold hands, seriously. Anywho, remember the hitch in my plot that I told you about? Well, it's gone! Yay! And I owe it all to an awesome reviewer whom I chat with on MSN. She opened my mind to a whole new possibility for the story. You know who you are! **Thank you!**_


	6. A Near Death Experience

Sunday morning. It was late Sunday morning, nearing half past 10 and Pyro was still asleep (so Peter had been right). His plan was to sleep until noon and then perhaps get up to do something. However, this seemed unlikely to happen when he suddenly found himself being shaken awake.

"Wake up, Pyro!"

"No…" he moaned, trying to push whomever it was away. He pulled his pillow up over his head.

**ZAP!**

"Oww! Motherf-" Pyro bolted up from his peaceful slumber to see Jubilee holding her finger just a millimeter away from his foot that was protruding from underneath the covers of his bed. "Did you just…?"

Jubilee smirked in response. Pyro sent her a murderous look.

"Pyro, this is serious," came another voice. Pyro now noticed that Jubilee wasn't the only uninvited guest in him room. Kitty was there too. He guessed that she'd been the first to enter his room and open the door.

"What is this?" he asked, very much annoyed, and an annoyed Pyro is a dangerous thing.

Kitty and Jubilee looked at each other. They both looked worried. Then Bobby ran into the room.

"Argh," Pyro put his face in his hands_. 'Him too?'_ he thought.

Bobby wasted no time in walking over to John's bed and grabbing his arm to pull him out. "John, get up. It's important."

"Get your hands off me, I'm coming. Now what is it?" John shrugged Bobby's hand off him and climbed out of bed. He ran a hand through his brown hair. He figured that if Bobby thought it was important then maybe it was. _'Meh.'_

"It's Mary…" answered Jubes.

Pyro's insides froze. "What about her?" he asked, coolly, since he saw Bobby looking at him. For a second he thought that this might be a set up by Bobby, but that didn't quite make sense either.

"Well, she never came out of her room this morning," explained Kitty. "And so we went in to check on her and…" Kitty looked a bit teary eyed.

"She's dead," said Jubes quietly.

"What!" Pyro almost shouted. He'd been talking to her just the night before…

Everyone jumped at Pyro's response. They'd never seen him so worked up over anyone other than himself. But before they could say anything else to him, he'd grabbed his lighter and ran from the room.

The others dashed after Pyro, as he hurriedly went down the hall and some stairs to get to the room where Mary was staying.

If Mary _was _dead, then Pyro would never forgive himself.

---

They all arrived at about the same time. Siryn was sitting beside Mary on the bed.

Pyro ran up to the bedside and crouched down so he could be nearer to Mary. The others also crowded around the bed, looking from Mary's still figure to Pyro's worried face.

Pyro tried to remember everything she'd told him the evening before. She hadn't appeared ill, but what would he know. He hadn't seen her the whole day.

Pyro swallowed and grabbed her hand. It felt different than when he'd held it before. It felt…lifeless. After losing so many things in his life the last thing he wanted to lose was someone who might actually understand him; someone who might actually care.

Bobby touched her forehead. "She's cold," he said.

"How could you even tell?" Pyro asked. "You're probably making her even colder."

"Have you told an adult yet?" asked Bobby. Totheir surprise the girls shook their heads.

"Why not?" Pyro snapped. What kind of person, when coming across a dead body, would just ignore it and not tell authorities?

"Well…we were really freaked out," said Siryn. "I almost screamed…"

'_Thank god she didn't,' _thought just about everyone, in the room.

"We ran to the nearest people we knew to find, I guess…." said Kitty. She knew that wasn't a good excuse either.

"Hey, maybe your screaming could wake her up or something," suggested Jubilee to Siryn.

"No!" said Pyro. He was still staring at Mary.

Bobby rolled his eyes. "Geez."

"Sorry…" scoffed Jubes. "We're not all logical and smart like you…"

"I never said I was, but thanks for the complement." Bobby and Jubes began to bicker.

Pyro ignored them and kept staring at Mary. He noticed the strap of her nightgown had slipped a bit off one shoulder. As he leaned forward to put it back, he caught a glimpse of two things he probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. When Pyro looked back up, he saw Kitty looking at him disdainfully. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. Pyro ignored her.

Meanwhile, Bobby and Jubes argument had gotten so heated, that she'd formed sparks in her hand. "Guys, stop it," begged Siryn, who'd been covering her ears.

"Yeah, Bobby, this isn't really helping." Pyro loved saying that, since he got it a lot, himself.

"Yeah!" said Jubilee and she gave Bobby a little zap in the shoulder. Bobby shot and icy blast at Jubilee but she dodged and it ended up landing on Mary.

Pyro stood up and ignited his lighter.It looked like hewas about to, most likely, singe the hair off Bobby's head when…

"Oh!" exclaimed Kitty, jumping back and falling off the bed. Everyone froze and turned to see what'd happened. Sitting up in the bed, was Mary. She seemed very startled, as everyone else.

"You…you're…eh?" Jubes couldn't talk.

"You're not dead?" said Kitty, getting back up.

"I'm not what?" asked Mary, putting a hand to her head as though she had a headache. She stared at Pyro who was looking very uncertain right about now.

"Umm…" Kitty cleared her throat.

"You thought was dead?" Mary looked surprised and yet humoured, as she looked around at the five of them.

"We tried to wake you up…and you didn't," said Siryn.

"I was sleeping," said Mary, puzzled.

"Oh."

There was a pause then Mary started laughing. No one else could see the humour in the moment, but Mary explained. "I guess…I forgot to mention, another factor of my mutantcy is that…it takes up a lot of my energy, so I tend to sleep deeper than most people, sometimes. My…whole body goes to sleep, I guess."

"You tell us now…?"whined Jubes, walking backtowards the bedroom door.

Eventually, everyone left room, and John was left with Mary. She was still sitting in bed and he was sitting on the edge, staring at the lighter in his hands.

"So…does this kind of thing happen all the time?" he asked.

"It's how my parents found out," she said. "But it mostly only happens when I'm really worn down."

John turned around to look at her. Mary was smiling at him. He couldn't help but smile back. Mary pushed back her sheets and blankets and moved over so she could sit next to Pyro. He didn't really know what to do next, although he discovered that every time he looked over at her and if he leaned forward a bit, he could see down her nightgown. But he didn't…maybe only once…or twice.

Mary leaned on Pyro's shoulder, and he put an arm around her. He was glad that she was okay, but he knew Bobby wouldn't shut up about it when he saw him again. Mary looked up at Pyro. Pyro thought about kissing her, but something held him back, and lucky for him since at that moment, Jean walked by the open door. When she spotted them, she backtracked, and walked in saying, "John, how long have you been in here?"

Mary looked down at her hands. John shrugged. They were both still in their sleepwear.

"Okay," said Jean, carefully. Obviously she'd read his mind, but still she remained at the door staring at him until he got the message that he should leave. As Pyro left, Jean smiled at Mary. "Good morning, Mary. Sleep well?"

---

_A/N: Gah! Something about this chapter doesn't sit well with me. Oh well, they can't all be perfect. I suppose this chapter was kind of... a comic relief? It reminded me of something that might happen in a stupid anime...or maybe not._


	7. Closer

_A/N: Another big thanks to Michaela for sparking more ideas in my head! And…let's see how this chapter goes. I realize now that in the last chapter I was really stressed, cause of the stupid SATs. Haha…anyways, I have a deadline for this story, so I'd better write fast…not too fast of course. (It's taking me longer than I thought for I had a sudden unexpected infatuation with Angel and got sidetracked .)_

---

It was a little over a week since Mary had been at the mansion and things were looking promising. She hadn't had another 'death' episode, as Jubes so frequently asked "Are you planning to die again soon?" but she rarely used her powers.

During a second meeting with Xavier, he'd warned her against overtaxing herself. He said that there were more elements to her power than she yet had mastered and with patience and training she could evolve. Mary wondered what he was hinting at. She'd never thought about there being more possibilities for her. She wondered how far she'd have to push herself to reach her next level.

But despite all the cryptic messages and worries in the back of her head, Mary was having fun with her new friends, Jubilee and Kitty. Her relationship with Pyro was still uncertain. She knew they were at least friends, and she really liked him, but some days they rarely spoke.

Today she'd caught a glimpse of him, over breakfast, but he'd gotten away before she could even say, hello. Luckily, Kitty and Jubes had found her and kept her amused throughout the day.

* * *

"So Rogue…I meant to ask, what inspired your hair?" asked Mary. She, Jubilee, Kitty and Rogue, who'd joined them not too long ago, were sitting outside on the lawn of the mansion. It was just after lunch and the girls had decided to soak up the sun outside. One couldn't stay in the mansion all the time. 

Normally, Rogue would've been somewhere in the mansion with Bobby, doing whatever they did without touching each other. It seemed like they spent every waking moment together, but apparently he and John were working on an overdue class assignment and were being watched by Cyclops till they got the job done. Mary remembered John looking a bit upset earlier, so this explained it.

"My hair…" Rogue touched the white streak in her hair. "It wasn't intentional, but it's a long story." True, she'd almost died.

"Oh." Mary nodded. She guessed that Rogue didn't really want to talk about.

"And what about yours, Mary?" asked Jubes, eyeing Mary's soft blue hair.

"Oh. I suppose it was a mistake." A mistake. "It wasn't always like this. It used to be black; jet black."

"Really?" responded the others, curiously.

Mary nodded. "It was the day when I overused my powers. I didn't know fully how to control them and…it drained me; knocked me out for a few days." Mary smiled weakly. "When I woke up…I had blue hair."

"No ways!" said Jubes. She started to wonder if a giant lightening bolt would affect her hair colour.

"And you never thought of dying it back to black?" asked Rogue, thinking that'd be the most obvious solution for one in that predicament.

Mary looked surprised. "You know…that idea never occurred to me." She laughed. "Besides, I like being unique!"

'"Unique or a freak…" joked Jubes.

As the conversation drifted to the pros and cons of being a mutant, Rogue stayed quiet. She often wondered why she'd been given the mutant powers she had. Some days she even wished there was a solution for it. A cure?

* * *

Meanwhile, Bobby and Pyro were stuck in a classroom, with Scott actually guarding the door. Apparently, they couldn't be trusted. 

"We could've finished this project ages ago, you know, like the rest of the class!" said Bobby angrily. They'd already been trapped in the classroom for most of the day.

Pyro was less amused. "I tried, didn't I? But you were too caught up with _Rogue!"_

They were trying to do a research project on the Bermuda Triangle, and were meant to have presented it ages ago. It seemed like every day their friendship grew more strained and Pyro liked to blame Rogue on that. Bobby had always retorted by claiming Pyro was jealous. It was probably true, but John would never admit it.

"Leave Rogue out of this!" said Bobby. "You can't blame her for your lack of organizational skills." John had lost the notes they had. He might've burned them one day when he was bored, but he couldn't remember.

John decided to ignore Bobby, which was hard to do, but if he got in a fight, Scott would find out and then he'd probably have to see Xavier again- which was no fun. John sat down in a chair and began playing with his lighter.

Bobby sighed. "That's not getting anything done, either." John continued clicking, ignoring Bobby.

There was something Bobby was itching to ask John. It'd been bothering him for a while, and even though now probably wasn't an ideal time to ask, he did.

"So…John," Maybe a change of topic was in order. Truthfully, Bobby could care less about the project. His motivation for it was long gone. "How's it going with Mary?"

The clicking stopped. _'Where the hell did he get that from?'_ thought Pyro. Mary…

Surprisingly, John hadn't really attempted to get any closer to her. He didn't know what he was waiting for. He noticed Peter had sort of backed off, but then again, maybe he'd never been interested anyways. Kitty and Jubilee always surrounded Mary now, and he wasn't able to speak his feelings with them around.

Pyro hadn't been aware of his long silence after Bobby's question. He was too deep in thought. Bobby smirked. "It's obvious you're crazy about her."

Pyro shrugged. But it had been rather obvious to some. Jean certainly had picked it up, but you didn't have to be a psychic to figure it out. It was partly the way John looked at Mary. To everyone else, he seemed to constantly leer at them, but to Mary, a strange far away look came into his eyes and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"It's not a crime to show your feelings," said Bobby.

Pyro glared at Bobby. So now he was judging him. "Bobby, you know…I never asked for your opinion on this matter so if you could just the shut the f-"

"Boys!" came a sharp voice. Scott was sticking his head in the classroom. "This isn't a joke. Get to work." The boys didn't make a move. Scott looked annoyed growled something about kids today, while stepping into the room.

There was a moment of awkward silence, apart from a click, click, click…

Scott snapped. "You know what? Give me that!" Before John realized what was happening, Scott had grabbed his lighter away from him. John was not happy, but wasn't given a chance to comment as Scott said. "Play time's over. You've had more than enough time to work on this, now DO it!"

Reluctantly, the two boys got to work, however, John might've been focusing more on ways to get back at Scott.

* * *

It was later that same day, around eleven at night. Mary was hunched over Kitty's laptop, checking emails, typing replies and chatting on MSN messenger. 

A while ago, Storm had come in to wish Mary good night, and also probably to check up on whether Mary was getting enough to drink. It seemed that Mary was never seen around the mansion without a Dasani water bottle in hand. Why Dasani? Cause Mary liked the shape of the bottle.

Mary took a sip of her water as she read what was being typed to her in the message window. She was chatting to Razor. It was sometime in the early morning, on his side, which meant he was probably sneaking on his computer again.

_(MSN messenger conversation)_

_**Razor:** We're so bored, Mary_

_**Psyche: **uhuh_

_**Razor:** I'll bet you're having fun_

_**Psyche**: yeah_

_**Razor:** met any cool mutants?_

Mary paused.

_**Psyche:** they're all pretty wicked_

_**Razor:** what are they like?_

_**Psyche:** different, but really nice people_

Mary would have gone into more detail, but she was feeling too lazy to type.

**Razor:** sure

There was a knock at Mary's bedroom door. Mary looked up from the computer and focused on the aura coming from the other side of the door. A smile lit up her face. "Come in!" she said.

The door opened slowly and in walked Pyro. Mary jumped off her bed, but then stopped. She didn't know how to greet him. Pyro waved at her awkwardly and sat down on her bed. Mary joined him.

"I missed you today…" she said after awhile. Pyro nodded. Those were words he hadn't heard often…or ever. "So…Rogue told me you and Bobby were working on some sort of project?"

John nodded again. "Unfortunately. That bastard, Cyclops, took my lighter." Even though he'd eventually gotten it back, after long, miserable hours of working with Bobby, Pyro wanted to hear Mary's reaction. He liked the fact that she seemed to care about him.

"Really? Oh dear, but you got it back, right?" she asked.

"Yeh". He noticed she was in her pajamas. He wondered if she'd been sleeping and he'd woken her up. He, himself, had actually been getting to bed, but something made him want to see Mary, so he'd snuck over.

"Were you sleeping?" he asked plainly.

"No…" Mary shook her head. "Oh!" she remembered suddenly that she'd abandoned her friend on chat. Picking up the laptop, she started typing an apology then goodbye.

As Mary was signing off, John was thinking of his next move. Why was he in her room? Would she ask why? He hadn't been _in _her room since that last time Jean 'caught' him. "So…John." Mary was sitting further up the bed than he, so he turned around, sitting on her bed cross-legged. Once again, she was smiling at him. He wondered what made her smile that much. Mary was actually wondering the same thing.

"Yeah…" he asked.

"Come over here. You're so far away." She patted the part of the bed, next to her, moving the laptop away. John slowly moved towards her and sat down. Here he was, in her room, on her bed…alone. What an opportunity! But he didn't want to mess this up. He still hadn't told her his feelings, plus he didn't know how she felt about him.

"What's wrong?" asked Mary, resting a hand on his arm.

John shrugged. "Nothing." He normally brushed off questions like that, but the look in her eyes told him that there was feeling behind that question. "I mean…well, there's a lot on my mind."

Mary nodded. "I could tell." She grinned. John smiled. Maybe the reason she was so nice was that she could sense how people felt, therefore always knew the best response for a situation.

"Um…Mary," he said. She looked up at him, with her dark eyes expectant. Why could words never come easily to him when moments got like this? Not that he'd ever been in a moment like this.

John leant over towards Mary and before either of them probably knew what was happening, John had planted a kiss on her lips.

They both were a little surprised. John felt relieved yet anxious as to how she would react. Mary was happy and then just generally surprised.

The couple stared at each other for a moment, before John pulled her into another kiss. John had his arms wrapped around Mary and had moved her closer to him. Then slowly and reluctantly, Mary pulled back.

John threw himself back on the bed, to catch his breath and calm down. He knew he had smile on his face and wished it would go away. He probably looked like a dork.

John felt Mary's hands pushing him on the side. She was trying to get him off the bed. For a moment he was confused and a bit hurt, but then he realized she was trying to pull the covers down off her bed.

She said nothing as she pushed back the covers them climbed back into bed. Pyro stood on the other side of the bed, staring at her. He wished he could know what she was thinking; what she thought of him!

"John…I'm about to fall asleep…I can feel it coming. Are you staying or what?"

John's eyes went round for a moment when he realized she was offering him to stay over. There was no use heading back to him room now anyways. He didn't really feel like it.

John quickly slipped back into her bed. Mary turned around for a moment to smile at him then fell asleep. John moved closer to her in the bed, until he was right up next to her. She was sleeping on her side with her back towards him, so he turned on his side and placed an arm around her waist.

He could feel her breathing and her body felt warm against him. His last thoughts before drifting off to sleep were: _'I'll bet Bobby and Rogue have never done this.'_

---

_A/N: I had a bit of writer's block so I feel that this chapter wasn't written so well. My mind keeps wandering off…Thank you obiwanfan for being lots of fun on MSN. I could perve over Pyro any day!_


	8. Wake Up Call

_A/N: I feel Pyrofied! Also, in case any are wondering, whenever I mention Kitty Pryde, the image I have in my head is of Ellen Page, not that other random chic in X2! Hehe. But it's just like Pyro, who cared about the Pyro in X1? I know I didn't. :p_

---

It was mid-morning the next day. Jubilee and Kitty were sitting in a little study room. Two walls of the room were lined with bookshelves stacked tight with books. Not many of the students read them, but supposedly Xavier never gave up. Most of the books were actually tomes, which led to a very complicating and frustrating read.

Jubes and Kitty were playing tic-tac-toe instead. They were waiting for Mary to come down from her room, since they knew the girl had the tendency to sleep in on some occasions. After about five games, Jubes had won three and Kitty, one (the other had been a 'cat' because Peter had interrupted them for a moment to tell them something, breaking Jubes' concentration; so she claimed.) Kitty said that that round should go to her, being the 'cat' and all…

"This sucks," announced Jubes. "You're obviously no match for me." She pushed away their piece of tic-tac-toed paper and leant back in her chair, crossing her arms.

Kitty rolled her eyes. "It was your idea."

"Well…my mistake," grinned Jubes. They both laughed.

Kitty tapped on the desk for a moment. She looked thoughtful. "I'm going to go check up on Mary," said Kitty, standing up from her seat.

Jubes nodded. Ever since Mary had arrived, Kitty had been really watchful over her. Sort of like a big sister, although they were probably about the same age.

As Kitty left the room, Jubilee stared out into the hallway from her seat. She noticed Peter walk by swiftly. "Hey, Peter!"

He paused and looked in. "What Jubes?"

"Tic-tac-toe?" she waved a blank sheet of paper and two pencils in the air.

Peter paused a moment, before grinning. "You're on!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Mary and Pyro were just barely waking up. Surprisingly enough, Mary was the first to stir. The first thing she did was to open her eyes. The sunlight was streaming in, even through the curtains. Mary lay still for a moment. She was sensing an aura nearby. Being sleepy, her sense of direction was off so she decided to ignore it, as it could've been a mutant in the next room. Or… 

Mary turned over in her bed. She gasped quietly as she spotted the sleeping John Allerdyce right next to her. For a moment she was confused, and a bit worried_, but_ then the memories of the night before came back to her. As if for the first time, it registered with her that they'd kissed!

Mary sat up in bed trying to remember it. She played with a strand of her blue hair, as she stared ahead at the opposite wall. She wore a silly grin on her face.

John mumbled something incomprehensible, before slowly opening his eyes and yawning. He sat up slowly, stretching, and ran a hand through his hair. He was about to start thinking, 'Is this my room?', when he glanced over at Mary. He smiled. "Good morning…" he greeted.

Mary turned around and stopped playing with her hair. "Heh." She smiled back. John moved towards Mary and kissed her on the cheek. Mary gave him a hug then rested her head on his shoulder.

They sat in silence for a while, neither of them knew what to say. Mary kind of wanted to ask what this meant for them, but didn't want Pyro to get the wrong impression; whatever that impression may be. Pyro had an urge to kiss her again, but wasn't sure if Mary would want him to.

At that moment, a figure burst through the door, and literally _through_.

At first she wasn't noticed since phasing hardly causes any sound, but Mary sensed the new presence and John caughtsight in the corner of his eye.

**_Stunned silence!_**

Kitty was blushing. Mary looked worried and Pyro looked pissed.

"Just cause you phase, doesn't mean you don't have to knock!" he said angrily, starting to climb out of the bed.

"I…um…uh…oh my god." Kitty stammered, looking down at her feet. "I…was just going to tell Mary, and you too, I guess, that… we're all leaving on a field trip to the museum…in a few hours."

Pyro walked over to Kitty, smirking. "Fine, but get a grip. We didn't do anything." Then he went to the door and opened it cautiously, taking a sly peek out. Luckily for him, the hall was empty. "Bye Mary!" he called to her, before slipping out.

A few seconds passed by, before Kitty spoke again. "So…you and John, huh?" She grinned.

Mary nodded. "We didn't _do_ anything," she insisted. Mary was glad that Jubilee hadn't been there, or else she'd never hear the end of it, but she knew Kitty wouldn't go on…for too long.

"Yeah, yeah…" joked Kitty, as Mary climbed out of bed. "Look, seeing as you're up, I'll go back downstairs and wait for you. We're going to be leaving in like…three hours." Kitty gave Mary a small wave, then phased out of the room.

'_Three hours?'_ Mary groaned, but speedily started to get ready.

None of them could've guessed that, in the near future, their lives would be changed forever.

---

_A/N: Cheesy ending. Sorry. It's sometimes confusing to get the timeline of a movie correct. X2 ran over a span of three days! Anyways, I might be the only one who really cares about that. I also apologize for the shortness. :(_


	9. Something's Happening in the Food Court

_A/N: This chapter annoyed me a lot._

---

"Hmm…do you think we're going to have to write a report on this?" asked Jubilee, staring up at a large banner, displaying the evolution cycle. Kitty shrugged.

They'd only been at the museum for a little under an hour and were already starting to get restless. Storm was giving a presentation that most of the younger kids were listening to, but for others, it was getting a bit boring.

Some of the older students were standing at the edge of the group,having their own little conversations. Bobby and Rogue were talking about something quietly; Kitty was patiently listening to Jubes' complaints; Mary was staring people down, as they stared at her blue hair and Pyro was staring at Mary, while playing with his Zippo.

"Well, this is boring." Jubes looked around and spotted a display on mutants. A frown appeared on her face and she set off towards it. Kitty sighed and followed. She was sticking to the 'buddy' plan.

Mary looked at her watch and her stomach grumbled. She was hungry. It was already past lunchtime though. She wondered when they were going to eat. Pyro's attention had now shifted to Bobby and Rogue, who seemed to be inching away from the group, slowly but surely. Pyro smirked. They were going to ditch! Pyro looked around for Jean. Shouldn't she be keeping track of everyone? But he couldn't spot her. The group of other mutants studants began to move on to the next display. When John looked back for Bobby and Rogue, they were gone. Without explanation, John grabbed Mary's hand and led her off away from the others. It seemed all too easy, slipping away, but Storm and the others had their hands full with keeping the younger kids in line (especially making sure none of them exposed their powers).

"Pyro, what are we doing?" asked Mary. At least she knew she wouldn't be bored with Pyro.

"Bobby and Rogue ran off. We might as well see what they're up to." And Mary agreed. "Besides," he added. "I'm kind of hungry, maybe we can stop at the food court. I'll bet that's where they went anyways. I heard Rogue complaining about food." _'Bobby always does whatever she wants,'_ added Pyro to himself. Hepondered, whether in time, ifMary would ever end up being like that.

**---**

"Well, that was way too easy," said Rogue to Bobby. They'd reached the food court with no knowledge of them being followed.

Bobby nodded. "Yeah, let's find a table."

It was past the normal lunch hour, so the food court wasn't as packed as it might've been and they found a table quickly. Bobby pulled out a chair for Rogue, and she sat down. He was about to sit down in the other chair, but spotted John and Mary heading towards them. Bobby sighed, he should've known better than to think John wouldn't follow.

Rogue followed Bobby's gaze and smiled and waved when she spotted Mary and Pyro. Pyro had slipped his arm around Mary's waist, as they came to the table; hewas gloating at Bobby.

Bobby rolled his eyes. "So, I take it you guys are going to join us?" Mary nodded with a big smile on her face. Pyro pulled up two more chairs, and he and Mary sat down.

"Are you guys getting food?" asked Pyro. Rogue looked at Bobby then said, "Yes."

"What are we getting to eat?" asked Mary. She looked at Bobby, who'd been staring at her. When he noticed she was watching him, he quickly diverted his eyes and said, "Why don't you girls go pick something out? I'll eat whatever. John?"

John shrugged. "Same here."

"Well then let's go," said Rogue cheerily, getting up from the table. Mary followed and when the boys were sure both girls were out of earshot, Bobby asked Pyro, "So…you and Mary?" Bobby just couldn't keep away from that subject. It was like he was perversly obsessed with the idea or something.

"Heh…" John figured that by now it was getting to obvious to deny, so he just nodded his head. Bobby grinned. "You see it wasn't that hard to open up to her afterall."

John hated it when Bobby always proved him wrong, but perhaps John could still get the upper hand in this situation. "You know what Iceman, you're right!"

Bobby frowned slightly. Was this _Pyro_ agreeing with him? Bobby nodded, uncertainly. "Okay…"

Pyro continued. "It's…really nice having someone else to talk to…and, well…she's a great kisser too." Bobby rolled his eyes. He should've known this was coming. Of course, John would try to rub it in, in anyway possible. Pyro smirked and leaned back in his seat. "Yeah…good times." Pyro nodded. "And you know…" His face lit up as he smirked deviously and added, "we could even…double date now!" Bobby groaned. Of course the thought of double dating with Bobby and Rogue made John a bit sick, he liked putting Bobby through the agony of the idea. Pyro wanted Mary to himself.

Bobby braced himself for another comment from Pyro, but nothing came; only the click, click, click of a certain Zippo (which was driving Bobby crazy enough). Bobby hoped that the girls would soon return and rescue him from the company of Pyro.

---

"So I'm asking," began Pyro, "what would be worse, to be burned to death or frozen?" Rogue groaned; apparently she'd had to put up with this sort of conversation a lot.

The four were just finishing their light meal of salad, soup and subs.Rogue really wanted to start heading back to the rest of the mutants, but the others seemed less enthusiastic to leave, and so they stayed put.

"Hmm…" pondered Bobby for a moment, then he turned to Mary. "What do you think?" he asked her.

Mary shrugged. "I think they'd both be very painful," she concluded. Bobby smirked at John, but John wasn't looking; he was playing with his Zippo.

Rogue was bored and had been staring around the room for something to catch her attention. A few tables away, sat two young men. They spotted Rogue looking at them and grinned. Rogue turned her head quickly, trying to focus back on the current conversation. Unfortunately, Bobby was now, explaining the process of the lungs freezing over and crystallizing blood. Even Mary started to look a bit squeamish.

"Hey, excuse me!"

The four mutants looked up to see two men; the men Rogue had accidentally made eye contact with. There was a pause then Mary said. "Hullo!"

"Can we help you?" asked Bobby, wanting them to make their point then leave quickly. He still hadn't gotten into frostbite.

"Do you have a lighter?" asked the one. Rogue, Bobby and Mary looked at Pyro,so the two boys did too. At first John didn't seem to notice, but when he did, he backed a bit away in his seat. His Zippo was lying flat in the palm of his hand, exposed for all to see but still he didn't respond. Pyro stared at his Zippo.

There was an awkward silence as people waited for Pyro to react. Nothing happened. The boys stared intensely at Pyro andhe eventually looked up. John stared blankly into their eyes, and the boys scowled. Mary bit her lip; she wasn't getting good vibes from these boys.

"Can I borrow your lighter?" asked the boy again, trying to be patient.

John lifted his Zippo up a bit to look at it. He began opening and closing the lid. The boys looked at each other, then one wearing a denim jacket said, "My brother asked you a simple question."

"Why are you being such a dick?" asked the other.

"Yeah, why are you being such a dick?"

Mary took a slow sip from her water bottle, knitting her eyebrows slightly. This could get interesting.

"Because…I can," laughed John. Bobby and Rogue looked at each other despairingly. Both wondered why Pyro always had to cause trouble out of nothing. Mary however had chuckled.

Click, click, click.

"Can I have a light?" One could hear, he was trying hard to restrain himself, aggression-wise, but still his voice trembled a little.

Pyro stared at the small flame coming out of his lighter. "Hmm…sorry I can't help you out pal."

"John, knock if off," said Rogue, as John continued laughing. Mary had a small smile on her face, but she sensed the situation taking a turn for worse.

"Why don't you stop showing off!" said Bobby, levelly.

"Oh, for her?"

Mary frowned slightly. Was he referring to her? She looked at Rogue, who shrugged and roled her eyes.

"I can't help it if your girlfriend's getting excited," said Pyro.

"I don't think she's getting excited," said Bobby, annoyed. He hadn't been referring to Rogue.

"Don't get shook up. We're trying to have a good time alright…"

"I think you're the only one having a good time." Bobby sent Pyro an icy glare. _Trust Bobby to ruin the fun_, thought Pyro. He hadn't really been trying to show off. He just liked control.

Mary looked at the brothers uncertainly. She could feel their anger. Rogue made disgusted face, as one of the brothers looked down at her, at her boobs. She scoffed androlled her eyes. Mary gripped her water bottle and took a hasty sip.

Suddenly, the other brother grabbed the lighter out of Pyro's hand; Pyro had been sidetracked with Bobby. "Hey!" Pyro stood up, but the other guy blocked him. Something burned inside Pyro as he watched his lighter being used to light a cigarette. "That's real cute, man," he said, while trying to think of something to do.

"What are you gonna do?" asked the boy blocking John. John merely chuckled. He'd thought of something. Mary was at the edge of her seat, eager to see what would happen next. Bobby and Rogue looked less thrilled. "Suddenly, you're not so tough."

As the boy put the cigarette to his mouth, Pyro followed it with his eyes, then winked. The cigarette burst into flames. "Agh!" shouted the boy, falling back onto the floor. Everyone around them gasped and stood up to see what had happened. Pyro laughed out loud. Mary covered her mouth, trying to stifle her laughs.

Bobby swore andstood up, blowing awaft of icy air in the flaming boy's direction. Everything paused.

"Whoa!" Mary stopped laughing and sprung to her feet. She slowly approached Pyro and clutched on to his arm. He looked down at her with a puzzled expression mirroring her own.

"Bobby…what did you do?" asked Rogue quietly, almost too stunned to speak.

"I didn't do this," he responded. Pyro waved a hand in front of the face of the boy who'd been blocking him. Mary realized that she couldn't feel the brothers' energy anymore…or anyone's apart from her three fellow mutants and…

"No, I did." Xavier! "And the next time you feel like showing off…don't."

Pyro couldn't tell whom Xavier was talking to, so he decided to just ignore it. If he was lucky, all the blamecould fall on Bobby.Besides, Pyro was soon to break that instruction anyways.

---

_A/N: It's over. Yay! 04:40 in the morning. :p Gah...now I have to start on the next chap. _


	10. Happy Birthday, Obiwanfan!

_A/N: I'm sorry. I think I made a mistake in one of my earlier chapters. I referred to Scott as being Jean's husband, when actually they're just engaged. :shamefaced:_

* * *

It was the morning after the museum food court incident. The day before, the group had left the museum in a hurry before people figured out _what_ they were. A news brief displayed on the museum television had also set off a warning. A mutant had attacked the president! 

Luckily for Pyro and the others, this new problem gave the professor something else to think on, leaving them, for the time being, unpunished.

---

It seemed like the beginning of any other day. Apparently, there had been no class assignment involved with the museum trip. However, an essay on what they'd 'learned' was for extra credit. No one really bothered to do that though.

John was outside in the garden, singeing flowers and thinking about Mary. He so badly wanted to talk to her, or just to be around her, but Jubilee and Kitty weren't making it easy for him. Whenever he came around Mary, in their presence, they'd send him knowing looks and smiles or winks. To be honest, it made him feel slightly uncomfortable having his feelings so 'exposed'; except when he was around Bobby and could gloat. Pyro was still going over the options in his mind: should he give in to his feelings for Mary and give his all for her, or should he continue shielding himself the way he always had.

John set a flower on fire, then slowly smothered the flame. The petals were almost all gone, and what was left was blackened and scorched. Destroying beauty. Was that all he was capable of? He knew everyone in the mansion always expected the worse from him; for him to slip up. At times, it could make a person justwant to give up. But it wasn't hisdestiny to be the _worst _one, or was it?

---

Meanwhile, Mary and Jubes were sitting in an upstairs study room, not studying, but talking about the recent events. Kitty was elsewhere with Siryn, keeping the girl company, since Siryn so often seemed alone.

After Mary had recounted the full food court scene to Jubilee, who found it thoroughly amusing, Mary diverted the conversation to the President's attack. As Jubes made jokes about it, commenting on what she would've done had she been the mutant making the attack, Mary began to think about her own exploits.

It was trueMary felt very safe at Xaviers', but she also was beginning to feel strange. She knew he was a psychic, so how far was he delving into her mind? Originally Mary had wanted to honour her parents' instructions of staying out of 'mutant mischief' and not overusing her powers, but ever since the professor had mentioned their being another facet to her mutant powers, she'd wanted to explore it.

Watching the boys display their powers at the museum had also brought back memories of when she and _her_ friends made attackson humans. A part of her wanted to feel that power again; that feeling of dominance. What was holding her back; her parents' wishes; Xavier's school; the knowledge that if she overdid it, she could kill herself?

"Mary?" asked Jubes. Mary slowly drifted back to the current conversation.

"Mmhmm?" She smiled, sheepishly.

Jubes laughed. "I was just saying that wouldn't it be awesome if that mutant showed up at our school."

"Perhaps." But Mary's mind was already beginning to slip away from Jubilee's chatter and for some reason, she began to focus on Jubilee's energy, her aura, her mind. Mary couldn't read thoughts, but she could read emotions and play with the senses. Without really realizing it, Mary began focusing harder and harder on Jubilee's energy. Mary wasn't aware when Jubilee paused talking and held her head.

"Argh….I have a headache," said the Asian girl. "Suddenly, I feel kind of sick. I have to go lie down."

"Huh?" Mary looked up, from the small side table she'd been staring at intensely. Her concentration on Jubilee was broken. Jubilee was already making her way out of the door. Mary got up and went to her. "What's wrong?"

Jubilee frowned. "I felt sick…but…now I feel a bit better." Mary nodded slowly, her eyes widening a bit. Jubes didn't seem to notice for she was holding a hand against her head.

"I'm going to lie down anyways. If you see Kitty, I blame her cookies."

A couple of days earlier, Kitty had baked a batch of cookies that Jubes had claimed 'unsafe for human consumption'. However, she'd snuck a few and now she was sure the cookies were the problem. Mary knew better.

---

For a while, Mary stood at the doorway by herself, watching Jubilee disappear down the hallway. Perhaps she should've felt guilty about testing her powers on a friend, but at least nothing **bad** had happened.

Mary opened the palm of her hand and a small silver orb appeared. It seemed to flicker, fluctuating in its size, and it felt cool, yet tingly and warm in her hand.

"Mary!" Mary stiffened slightly and put out the orb in her hand. Mary turned around guiltily to face Storm. "Mary…you know the Professor told you not to." So Storm had seen.

Mary nodded, then shrugged. "But it's not fair. Everyone else gets to practice their powers, what's so different about me?"

"Overusing your powers could kill you!" said Storm. She looked so worried and concerned that Mary feltsorry and fell quiet, not wanting to pester about it anymore. She could sense Storm's distress about the matter.

"Look Mary. It's not that we don't want you to experience your powers…we just don't want you to get hurt in the process." Storm put a hand on Mary's shoulder and smiled at her. Mary smiled back, feeling a bit better. At least she figured that Storm was 'semi-on her side'.

"Now, Mary, what I really need to ask of you…and the other older students when I get a chance to see them, is to be good examples for the younger kids, okay?"

Mary thought about the museum ordeal and nodded. "Sure." She still wasn't quite sure why Ororo was bringing this up now, then…

"Jean and I are going to Boston, and the professor and Scott will be busy later today too." Mary nodded. "Walk with me," said Storm heading down the hall towards the stairs. Mary kept up beside Storm.

"What's in Boston?" she asked, curiously.

"A mutant." The tone in Storm's voice told Mary not to question any further. "So…hopefully we should be back sometime tomorrow. It all depends on…" Storm paused and looked at Mary, awkwardly.

Mary stared blankly at Ororo for a moment, then nodded suddenly saying, "I understand and I'll do my best not to let you down." Storm smiled and gave Mary a hug.

As they continued down the stairs, Mary spotted Bobby and Rogue talking to a strange, gruff looking man.

"Look who's come back, just in time," said Storm, walking briskly towards the trio. Mary followed silently. Rogue looked happy about something, yet Bobby looked less pleased.

"For what?" asked the man. His eyes caught sight of Mary's blue hair and he arched an eyebrow. Mary noticed this and gave him a slightly challenging look.

"We need a babysitter," said Storm.

"Babysitter?" The man didn't seem too thrilled about the idea.

"Nice to see you again, Logan." Storm grinned. Logan… Mary stared at him for as long as she could without him noticing. He seemed different from the other mutants, if he was actually a mutant, but she figured he was. This Logan, character, appeared very strong and under other circumstances Mary might've been intimidated by him. All else aside, Logan was kind of handsome; a rugged handsome.

Mary noticed people looking towards the stairs and she turned her head.

"Hey Logan." It was Jean.

"Hi Jean," responded Logan. Mary suddenly felt like there was something going on between them, but what about that Scott guy?

"Uhh…" Storm took a step back from their little huddle. "I should go…get the jet ready." Then she walked out of the room.

"Yeah, well, it was good to meet you," said Bobby to Logan, then to Rogue, "Come on, let's go." He began walking away and pulling her by the sleeve of her shirt. To Mary, his voice sounded a bit strained.

"Bye Logan. I'll see- I'll see you later!" said Rogue.

"Okay," answered Logan.

Mary guessed this was her queue to leave as well, but something was making her stay. Jean was off the stairs and coming towards Mary and Logan. Mary found herself staring at Logan, and he at her.

Jean looked amused and started the introductions. "Logan, this is one of our new students. Mary Connelly, from the UK." Logan nodded, then proceeded in saying. "Mary, I'm Logan, or Wolverine as they say here." He held out his hand and she shook it firmly.

"A pleasure," she said, taking a slow step backwards. "Um…I have things I need to get done. I'll see you later, Logan!"

Mary turned and scampered out of the room, making her way towards the kitchen for some water. This was brilliant. With all the main adults out of her way, perhaps she could finally get some practicing in. But she was going to get _more_ than practice soon and nothing would be as it was.

* * *

_A/N: Haha, another cheesy ending line. I can't seem to avoid them. Anyways, sadly I must announce that this story will not be getting updating until sometime late July, or early August. I'm going to a distant realm where internet does not exist. Hehe. So I'm asking you a favour, if you read this chapter- please review it. I just want to see how many people are actually reading it. And **reviews** always pump me up to write more! Yay! Thank you..._


	11. Powers and Problems

_A/N: Um…while I was away I was planning more of the plot for this story, and I just figured out something that would make it even crazier! However it's still chapters away…I always knew this fic would be long but…it might end up longer than I ever planned. Anywho, why I told you this was that Mary's attitude might be changing a bit as she works with her powers and tries to discover herself. Sometimes I think Mary is trying to take over the fic. It's a Pyro fic! But actually the character development of Mary is just as important as Pyro's since…well…I can't tell you too much. Lastly, thanks for your reviews! I'd love to chat to some of you and hear your opinions. It's always nice to hear how another person perceives the story._

---

"This is crazy," said Pyro staring at the two packs of bottled water he'd just set down in the grass. The water was for Mary of course. They'd met up just an hour ago, in the kitchen after lunchtime. Storm and Jean had already left and the professor and Scott were getting ready to leave.

"Perhaps, but I _have_ to try," said Mary sitting down. John sat down beside her and watched her open a bottle of water.

"Do you really have to drink all this?" he asked, watching her drink half the bottle in one draught.

"As a precaution, yes." It was Mary's plan to test out her powers again and she didn't want to take any risks. With a bottle in one hand, and the other outstretched, she began forming one of her orbs. John watched with interest. He'd never really been audience to a show of her powers.

Once the orb grew to the size of a medium sized grapefruit, Mary placed down her bottle and took the orb in both hands.

"Can I touch it?" asked John.

"I don't know…" She looked at John solemnly, as he slowly lifted his hand and moved his fingers towards the orb. As his fingers connected with it, John gasped softly and pulled back his hand.

"What happened?" asked Mary, looking to John worriedly.

He shook his head. "My…my hand is…numb. I can't feel it." Mary tossed the orb away towards a patch of flowers. She got up on her knees to see the effect, and John did the same. As the orb hit the ground there was a bright flash of white light and then it disappeared. The flowers had all wilted. John looked down at his hand wondering if it would just suddenly waste away, but as quickly as that thought had entered his mind his hand slowly regained its warmth with the pin-prickly feeling as when your foot fell asleep.

"It's better now," said John, seeing how worried Mary looked, for the flowers remained drooped. Mary tore her eyes away from the ruined flowers, casting a swift glance at John's hand. She picked up her water bottle and finished the contents.

"What did it feel like?" she asked after awhile.

Click, click, click…

John was messing with his lighter again, probably happy to have the use of his hand back. Her question surprised him a bit. Somehow he'd figured she'd have known. "Um…" he shrugged. "At first it was cold…almost like ice and then suddenly I couldn't feel at all. I think it was spreading up my arm…" John looked at Mary's face, but she was staring at her empty water bottle. "Mary…Mary?"

Mary was frustrated. She hated not knowing how to use her powers. She didn't even know what her powers were exactly and more over she hated the fact that the professor probably did and wouldn't tell her. "It doesn't matter…" she heard Pyro saying. "You did nothing wrong."

"Nothing wrong?" she snapped so suddenly that Pyro almost dropped his lighter (which he was still clicking) in surprise. "Sure…that's easy for you to say, when you can just parade your powers any time you like."

"What?" John was surprised to hear Mary talking like this. It was the last thing he'd expect her to say. "Are you talking about what happened at the museum yesterday?" He was under the impression that she'd enjoyed it. He'd thought she was having fun.

"Yes and no." Mary opened another bottle of water. "You don't understand Pyro…this is a school for mutants, but I'm not even learning the things I need to know! I don't know what my powers can do…and now…I'm afraid of doing something stupid…"

"At least people aren't _waiting_ for you to do something stupid," muttered Pyro.

"Stop complaining. You just don't know…" She wasn't finished but Pyro cut in before she continued.

"Complaining? I'm just stating the truth. You're not the only one who feels inadequate." Pyro wondered how they could start arguing so soon. He wanted it to end. He had to make an effort. Mary was scowling at him so he added quickly. "Hey…why don't you try something else on me…do the...er…psychic-non-psychic thing…"

Any other day she probably would have agreed, but she'd already seen the effect it'd had on Jubilee and didn't want to risk anything else happening to Pyro.

"You just don't get it…" she said shaking her head. John frowned and watched as Mary slowly got up and walked away, taking a pack of water with her.

"Damn it!" said Pyro jumping up. For a moment, he'd thought to run after her, but he settled in kicking the remaining packet of water bottles.

* * *

Mary pitched an empty bottle into the kitchen trash. She'd downed it in no more than five minutes, in an effort to perhaps drown her anger. Mary was noted for sometimes having a quick temper, which usually meant she was under some stress- and she was.

With a heavy sigh, Mary leapt off the counter she'd been sitting on, leaving her package of water behind. She headed towards the kitchen door, staring at her feet and humming to herself. She felt another energy around her and looked up- too late.

"Oof!" she almost fell backwards as she ran into Logan. Logan had a slightly amused look on his face, for he'd been standing in the hall watching her approach, waiting to see whether she'd notice him or not. Or not- until now, of course.

"That's an interesting way to greet someone," stated Logan, crossing his arms and starring down at her, mainly her striking blue hair. Since their previous brief and awkward meeting, Mary's hair had been recurring in Logan's thoughts. Not only was it not everyday you saw a person with coloured hair, but Logan had sensed something in the girl. Something dark. Something he related to. But naturally, Logan wouldn't just bring this up and he intended to keep the conversation light. "What are you, some kind of rebel?"

Mary grinned at his choice of word. "You never know."

Logan responded with a grunt.

"You don't look like much of a teacher…"

"That's because I'm_ not _much of a teacher."

Mary chuckled and nodded. There was a sudden pause, and Mary let her mind seep into Logan's. She couldn't help herself, Logan noticed an odd expression on her face.

"You alright kid?" he asked, staring back at the wall Mary spacey eyes were focused on.

She shook herself out of it. "Of course." Her eyes shifted around her surroundings and then she asked, "So the others are gone, yeah?" Something in the girl's hopeful tone made Logan suspicious, but then again, he was only the 'babysitter'.

"I'm in charge, if that's what you mean…." He answered carefully. To his surprise, the girl grinned at him.

"I guess we're in good hands then…" Mary lowered her eyes to the floor. "I…uh…"

"…have to go?" finished Logan, knowing the conversation couldn't last forever, and they were running out of things to say.

"Yes. Exactly." As Mary walked away, Logan had the strong inkling that she was up to something. He needed something to do. Perhaps look into Scott's office…or Jean's. He might learn a thing or two about them both.

* * *

Hours later in the evening hours, Pyro sat in his room, unable to sleep. All afternoon he'd been mulling over his argument with Mary, trying to figure out exactly what went wrong. During dinner, that wasn't really organized since Logan was in charge, Pyro had caught a glimpse of Mary (with the usual, Jubilee, Kitty and Siryn); Mary didn't even look at him. This pissed John off for he hated being ignored. He had to sit with Bobby and Rogue again. And now, Bobby knew something was wrong- which John also hated! John didn't want Bobby to think he was a failure at relationships, especially not after all the times John had commented on Rogue not being the ideal girlfriend.

Click, click, click…

John sighed and looked at his clock. It was nearing midnight. He wondered if Mary was still awake. It was now time for him to swallow his pride and apologize, even if he wasn't one hundred percent sure what he'd done.

Slipping a shirt on, John crept out of his room, noticing that his roommate, Bobby was also missing. It wasn't hard for John to sneak down to the hall of girl's dorms. He doubted Logan would be doing a midnight patrol.

Outside of Mary's door, Pyro knocked. He waited. Nothing. "Mary?" he whispered. Nothing. Trying to be patient, John waited at least five minutes longer, but after getting no response he assumed Mary was either dead asleep, or trying to ignore him.

Downhearted and even more pissed off, Pyro made his way back to his bedroom. At the moment, he hated just about everything.

However, meanwhile, Mary wasn't even in her room, but her state of being wasn't so well either. After her encounter with Wolverine, Mary had shut herself in her bedroom with the hopes of practicing her power more. For hours she stretched her senses to track the auras in the rooms nearby, not concentrating too hard but trying to read the different emotions and guess what people they were.

Things seemed to be going well, but the more she tried to expand her reach, the more blurry the information read in her mind. Eventually she had to stop for fear of getting sick. Mary felt terrible. The world seemed to be spinning andshe had used up the last of her room's water supply hours ago.

Mary stumbled off her bed and managed to get to the door. Slowly she made her way down the hall and stairs, tripping a few times and up against the wall for support. By the time she'd made it to the ground level, Pyro had been knocking at her door.

Slowly but surely Mary made her to the kitchen. The light was on and someone was already inside, but Mary was in no condition to have noticed. She stood in the doorway, tilted over to the side. Then her balance failed and she began to fall over.

"Mary?" A pair of strong arms caught her before she hit the floor. Mary mumbled something inaudible and soon she was being lifted over to a chair at the kitchen table.

_What am I doing_, she thought to herself and opened her drowsy eyes. She spotted Bobby across the room, by the fridge. He turned around and rushed over to her, holding and open bottle of water. It had a lime green straw inside. Bobby took a seat beside her and offered Mary the bottle. Instead of taking it, Mary leaned over and wrapped her lips around the straw and began drinking. Bobby smiled. "Mary, what have you done to yourself?" He noticed she was rather pale and was concerned.

Mary lifted her head and took the bottle from Bobby. It was half finished. "Nothing that can't be fixed." Bobby shook his head. There was a moment of silence as Mary finished her water and Bobby stared at her. A million ideas were rushing through his mind like a stream, not half of them decent.

"Bobby…"

Bobby looked over at Mary saw she had stood up and was walking towards the fridge. He stood up as well, taking a few steps in her direction.

"Thank you…" She'd grabbed two waters and left the kitchen before he could say anything else.

---

Mary didn't plan to head back to her room any time soon and was walking a bit aimlessly down the hall. The sound of voices and static reached her ears and led her to the living room.

There she found a boy everyone called 'Jones' who was watching television.

"What are you watching?" she asked, glancing at the television screen. "…or not…" She noticed that the channels were rapidly changing, controlled by the boy's blinking eyes.

"Nothing good ever plays this late," Jones stated. "Except pornos."

Mary laughed, sitting down in an armchair near the couch Jones was on. She felt a bit chilly in her tank top and thin pajama bottoms, so she wrapped her arms around a pillow for comfort.

"Can't sleep?" she heard Jones ask. She was about to answer, but it turned out it wasn't she the question was directed to.

"How can you tell?" asked a deep voice. Logan! Mary turned her head to the doorway and there he was.

"'Cause you're awake," answered Jones, not looking away from the flashing television screen.

"Right. How 'bout you?" Logan noticed Mary huddled in a chair partially behind Jones'. His stare made her look away to the TV.

"I don't sleep," answered Jones flatly.

"And you, Mary?"

Mary tentatively looked back at Logan. "I can't sleep. Not now."

Logan seemed like he wanted to say something, but held it back and soon left. After a while Jones said. "That guy creeps me out." Mary said nothing, but concentrated on tying her hair up in a ponytail- messy, but it got her hair out of her face, a bit.

Mary looked back to the screen and noticed the boy had finally settled on a piece about rats. She stared at the screen, trying to get herself interested. For the first time, Jones looked away from the screen and at the doorway. He slowly got up and left the living room.

"…but now and then every mother needs to get away…" spoke the TV lady.

Mary heard Jones' voice addressing someone. Logan? Bobby?

"…without her the babies are helpless…"

-thump-

Mary got up from her seat and peered out into the hallway. Her eyes widened as she saw Jones' limp body on the floor. There were darts sticking out of his neck. She sensed non-mutants energies nearby and slipped back into the living room. In the distance now she heard the beating of helicopter blades.

Quietly, Mary moved across the living room heading for the other exit, as she ran into the hall she spotted two armed men staring straight at her. One lifted his gun, and before Mary realized what she was doing, her mind 'latched' on to the life energies of the men. They paused for a moment, as they both began to hear a slight ringing in their ears and a headache beginning to ensue. Just like Jubilee, a feeling of nausea overtook them. Their weapons dropped and one man began grabbing at his collar and fanning himself.

"Argh..." groaned the men as they sunk to the floor, holding their heads in pain. Drops of blood landed on the tile floor, as blood began flowing from their mouths and ear. Then suddenly…their movement stopped, their groans of agony silenced and Mary felt a sudden boost of energy.

For a second Mary was glued to the spot. The men were dead? She'd…killed them? The noise of glass breaking and gunfire from the kitchen brought Mary back to the current situation. Walking past the downed soldiers, she stooped over and grabbed one of their stun guns, then without haste, bolted around the corner and back upstairs.

She sensed more were near. An invasion, she guessed, had begun!

---

_A/N: That was kind of a long chapter. The next will be too, I think. This is one of my favourite scenes of X2. The Invasion. I can't wait. Um...do you guys think Mary is weird?_


	12. Escape

_A/N: There might be some typoes since I wrote this late last night._ **-sleepy-**

* * *

"Aaiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" was what Pyro heard and woke him up. He clutched at his ears and squeezed his eyes tight, wishing for the sound to go away. He'd just barely managed to get back to sleep after failing to find Mary. Now, Siryn- and there was no doubt in his mind that that's who it was- had to scream and wake him up; everyone up. As soon as Pyro thought his ears would explode, the sound suddenly ended, leaving the air heavy with its echo repeating in people's minds. 

From somewhere in the mansion, Pyro heard sounds and screams. He sat up quickly and grabbed his lighter. Something wasn't right.

---

Meanwhile, Mary with her sudden boost of energy had made it up to her room with enough time to throw on a hoodie, grab her wallet and slide on a pair of Vans. On her way, she'd shot about three men with darts and the helicopters grew nearer.

Mary had one foot out the door when Siryn began screaming. Mary wanted to scream along, but then she thought about the men she'd just killed. Had they felt this way? Siryn's scream stopped abruptly and Mary saw a few soldiers down the hall by Siryn's door. She wondered about Kitty and Jubilee; would they be okay?

Mary sped down the opposite direction of the hall. Kids were everywhere trying to find an escape. Outside, white lights beamed through the windows lighting up the frightened students' faces and making them easier to spot by their enemies. Mary was glad she'd left the stun gun back in her room, for running with it might've proved hindering.

_-whump-_

Mary fell to the ground, hard on her butt as she collided with another person! She really needed to pay attention to where she ran.

"Mary?" She looked up. It was an out of breath John, who'd been running all over the place trying to figure out what was happening. He gave her a hand back up to her feet and she wrapped her arms around him.

"Pyro…" she didn't know what else to say but that she was _really _glad to see him right then. John smiled, relieved that Mary was okay, amidst this. He wondered if he was also forgiven for earlier, but didn't have a chance to ask for up ahead glass was breaking and more armed men were climbing through.

"Let's go…" he said, taking Mary's hand. They both ran back the way Mary had came, as they passed a hall John heard his name being called.

"John!"

Pyro and Mary paused. They spotted Bobby standing in the middle of chaos, looking a bit lost and confused.

"Hey, where's Rogue?" called the blue-eyed boy.

"I don't know," answered John, annoyed that all Bobby ever cared about was Rogue, but then again…John cared about Mary, now.

Mary shook her head at Bobby's question.

"I gotta find her!" said Bobby, turning to run down the hall.

"Hey!" Pyro yelled after him, but Bobby wasn't turning back. To Mary he said, "Come on…" The couple tore after him down the hall, brushing into kids running the opposite direction. No one really knew where to go. There _were_ planned escape routes, but who ever takes those seriously?

Pyro and Mary caught up with Bobby as they rounded a corner to a deserted corridor. "Rogue!" Bobby exclaimed.

"Bobby!" Rogue was barefoot like the rest, save for Mary, and wearing a short black slip-like gown. "This way!" she directed them, leading them down the hall she'd come from.

They all followed her but paused half way. Bright flashlights were shining through the glass window at the end of the corridor and then-

_-crash-_

Glass shattered everywhere and Rogue screamed. Mary shielded her face. The four ran as quickly as they could away from the spot. Mary still felt invigorated. They descended some stairs and at the bottom found the dead bodies of soldiers. This reminded Mary of the two she'd killed but she figured it was Wolverine's work.

"Come on," ordered Bobby. They followed him into an informal sitting room. Doors bust open and four men with guns approached.

Pyro swore under his breath and looked down at Mary. She didn't seem so afraid, but her brow was furrowed.

"Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Before they, or the soldiers knew it, Logan jumped down from the open hallway, just above and stabbed two of the soldiers on spot then quickly finished the others.

This left the four students a little breathless and Logan said firmly, "Let's go."

As they followed their new guide, Mary wondered if this would ever end. It seemed like everywhere they turned more soldiers appeared. Where were they coming from? Who were they?

"Come on, this way…" she heard Logan say again. She wasn't even paying attention to their surroundings anymore, but used all her effort to keep holding Pyro's hand.

The five entered an empty hall and paused near the end. Bobby tapped on a wooden wall and it slid back, leading to an escape tunnel. "This is it," he said.

The teens all climbed through, but Logan remained standing in the hall. Someone was coming. "Logan!" yelled Rogue, pleadingly as the secret entrance closed, leaving Wolverine outside.

John, Mary and Bobby were already a far pace down the tunnel when they noticed Rogue wasn't following. Bobby was the first to turn around. "Rogue, come on."

"Wait, wait! You guys we gotta do something!" Everyone stopped and turned to look at her. Mary rested her head on the side of John's arm. "They're gonna kill him."

"He can handle himself. Let's go," reasoned John. Logan had no problem dishing it out and John never understood why Rogue was always so worried. He glanced at his friend's face. He could tell Bobby wanted to get the hell away from the mansion, but also wanted to please Rogue.

"Bobby! Please…"

That did it. Bobby and Rogue walked back towards the trapdoor. John walked over to the side of the tunnel to lean on it. Click, clack, click, clack…

Mary breathed deeply. The rush from before was fading and an overwhelming feeling of drowsiness overtook her. John watched her from the side, wondering how she felt about him, and wondering when Rogue and Bobby were going to get their butts back so they could scram.

"No! No!" he heard Logan cry out. Next Rogue said something quietly to Logan. There was a pause and then Logan shouted out, "Go!" and everyone was in the tunnel, running towards the exit. Behind them they heard a mini explosion.

"You see," Pyro muttered to Bobby as they ran side by side.

The tunnel led to a short ladder, leading up to the mansion's garage. They climbed up the ladder, pushing back the trap door. Mary was finding it difficult to climb, but John helped her up. Apparently, Logan's plan was to drive as far away from the mansion.He picked out the nearest thing to the door- a blue sports car.

"I'll drive," said John starting to open the driver's door. Logan put a hand on his shoulder, moving John out of the way. "Maybe next time," he said.

Everyone climbed in- Rogue called shotgun, John sat behind Logan and Mary squeezed between the two boys in the back.

"This is Cyclops' car," said Bobby after awhile.

"Oh yeah?" Logan extended his middle claw and used it in place of a key to start the engine. The garage door slowly opened and the five mutants, now fugitives sped away into the night.

"What the hell was that back there?" asked John, as the car sped up the dark, deserted backroad.

"Stryker….his name is Stryker," replied Logan.

"Who's he?" asked Rogue.

"I can't remember…" Logan answered quietly.

As John finally relaxed back in his seat, he glanced over at Mary. The girl was fast asleep! John moved around a bit so that Mary could rest herself on him. He noticed Bobby giving Logan and Rogue an uncertain look.

Pyro sighed. This would be a long night he wouldn't want to remember.


	13. Driving

**_A/N: I haven't got writer's block. I've just been lazy. :P This chapter is rather short. Apologies! But the reason it's short is that this should have been added to the last chapter. I can't wait for the next chapter. Heh. It's one of my fave scenarios of the movie. But...since this chap. is so pathetically short, please feel free to comment and complain. -hides-_  
**

----xXx----

_It happened again. John found himself running down an endless hallway. Around him he heard screams, but he saw no faces. Were the screams just in his head?_

"_Pyro!"_

_John looked up ahead. It was Mary, but she was being pulled away by some invisible tug of air. John stretched his arm out towards her, every second he came closer, yet Mary was so far away._

_Eventually, she vanished in the distance, into the shadows John could never reach._

---

John woke up with a gasp. It took a while for him to get his bearings. He wasn't in bed. He was in a car and everything was dark. Why? Then the heavy realisation of the night's events sunk in. So it must have been real; the soldiers, the invasion. But what had that dream been about? John rarely had dreams of any importance, no dreams foreshadowing the future...but ever since their escape from the mansion, John had been uneasy, tense, on watch for anything else that might fly at him unsuspectingly like the soliders. John was scared. Scared for himself and scared for Mary. It was almost the first time in his life that he'd cared so deeply about anyone other than himself. He wondered what would have happened if him and Mary had never met up during the mansion chaos. Would she have been killed? He didn't want to think about it.

Running a hand through his hair, John looked around the inside of the car at the other passengers. Mary was leaning on him, still fast asleep. Obviously, Logan was wide-awake and alert, for they hadn't yet veered off the road. John turned to see what Bobby was up to. Bobby was staring at Mary! Pyro protectively pulled Mary close to him, giving Bobby a death glare.

Bobby rolled his eyes, but turned away to gaze out his window into the darkness. A deep frown was etched in his brow.

"Are we there yet?" asked John, stretching his free, left arm.

Up front, Logan seemed less than thrilled that one of the students had finally piped up. He'd been enjoying the silence. "A few more hours still," answered Logan quietly.

John groaned and looked down at Mary. He wished she were awake so they could talk. He still wasn't sure of where they stood after their last argument, but as long as she'd let him hold her when she slept, she must not have hated him so much. John stared at Bobby once more. Bobby was now staring at the back of Rogue's head.

Not long after, both boys were asleep. Logan's adrenaline was still pumping hard. Taking a quick glance around at the sleeping students, Logan pushed his foot down on the gas pedal, speeding away into the night. He sensed the urgency of the situation…and he had a bad feeling about events yet to come.


	14. A Home

_A/N: I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. I got super lazy._

* * *

It was sometime mid-morning when the car full of mutants appeared in the Drake's driveway. As the engine of the car shut off, Rogue in the front seat began to stir. 

"So this is it, huh?" Logan turned around and asked Bobby. Bobby, who'd been awake for a while giving Logan directions to his house, nodded and opened his car door to get out. Pyro was still sleeping and of course Mary was too. Logan shook Pyro gently on the shoulder and slowly Pyro got into motion.

A few minutes later, when Bobby had found a spare house key underneath a pot plant, he opened the house and led in his friends. Rogue was feeling a bit self-conscious in her thin, black nightgown and bare feet. She felt too exposed. Logan was carrying Mary, much to John's annoyance. It was like people didn't think he was strong enough to carry a girl, who, in fact, did not even weigh much.

"Mom. Dad. Ronnie? Is anybody home?" called Bobby. The others looked around, Rogue a bit nervously. After no response came of any of Bobby's family, he announced, "I'm going to try to find us some clothes." Mary was the only one dressed, apart from Logan who appeared to be half-dressed.

Bobby turned to John. "Don't burn anything." John gave Bobby a look that read. 'What the hell? But thanks for giving me that idea!' Bobby proceeded to go upstairs and Rogue followed him.

"Let's get her taken care of," said Logan, looking down at Mary who looked a little worse for wear.

John nodded and they began to seek out the kitchen for water.

-+-

"What'd you find?" asked Logan's gruff voice.

John was rooting through the Drake's fridge for something for Mary to drink.

They'd found the kitchen okay, and it'd led them to a hospitable looking living room where Mary was now lying on a couch.

"There's some water in the back," said John, pushing other bottles and containers out of the way. He pulled out a couple of bottles of water, then stood up, making towards the living room.

Logan stopped him. "Hey! You might want to try these."

John looked down at what Logan was holding out to him. "Ice cubes?" he questioned, taking the tray doubtfully.

Logan shrugged. "It could wake her up."

"Sure…" John pushed his way past Logan and into the living room. He quickly sat on the edge of the couch, at Mary's side and brushed her blue hair from her eyes. Once again she felt cold to him. He wondered how long she could last like this before…

John popped an ice cube from the tray and held it in his hand. Slowly, water began to dribble down his wrist. His hold on the cube was quickly making it melt. Wiping the water on the side of his pajama pants, he carefully ran the ice cube across Mary's forehead. Back and forth, back and forth, until a trickle of water ran down her cheek. He placed the ice cube (much smaller now) back into the tray and put the tray on the floor. Then he scooted up further on to the couch and propped Mary's head up against him.

He was just reaching for a water bottle to try and give Mary, when a set of clothes hit him in the side of the head. John quickly looked around, but didn't see who'd done it, although it was obvious it was Bobby for the clothes seemed unnaturally cold and had a thin layer of ice.

"How's she doing?" asked Logan, stepping into the living room to check up on the kids. Logan was now wearing a white shirt, kindly provided by Bobby Drake.

"I don't know…" answered Pyro, holding a bottle in one hand and clothes in the other.

"Go get dressed," ordered Logan. "I'll make sure she's okay."

John didn't want to leave but he didn't want anyone thinking he was turning into some kind of little emotional, worrier. Having an unconscious girlfriend fazed him not.

Logan came over and helped up Mary, as John climbed off the couch with his clothes and set the bottle down. He made thought about going upstairs and getting Bobby back for the cold toss, but perhaps revenge could come later. Instead, John chose what appeared to be a good-sized laundry room. It was kind of stuffy so he dressed quickly.

Meanwhile, back in the living room, Logan had taken a less gentile approach to waking Mary up by simply pouring a bottle of water on her face. Mary soon sat up sputtering and swearing. She only stopped when she realized she had no idea where she was. As she stared around the room blankly, Logan replied, as he went back into the kitchen. "We're in Boston. Bobby's parents' house."

Mary nodded slowly and stood up from the couch. The night before was definitely hazy, but certain scenes stayed etched in her mind. Those soldiers….the sudden rush of energy like never before. As Mary walked around the living room, she held her forehead and shaking her head.

Logan, satisfied that the job was done turned and left to seek out more goodies from the fridge. At this point, Pyro had arrived back into the living room. For a moment his full attention was caught on a Drake family photo. They all looked so happy, and it made John rather sad to think about his own family. It seemed like any where he went he was destined to be the outcast, which was probably why he acted out so much. But…he didn't act out did he? He certainly hated thinking of it that way and thinking about those issues always frustrated him. Most likely because he knew he was in the wrong. Pyro hated being found wrong.

It was when Mary turned around that she first noticed John. She slowly crept up behind him and joined him, staring at the family photograph. He only noticed her presence in the reflection on the glass over the picture. He didn't turn around, Mary's eyes followed his to the happy faces.

To Mary, she always felt a bit strange in other people's homes, for it was like an invasion of privacy, and when looking at their photos, it was weird to think that you would soon meet them for the first time in your life yet you already knew what they looked like and…a little of what they were like, judging by their home.

Mary took hold of one of John's hands and turned him around so that they could face each other. His eyes remained focused on the photo. Mary moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. Resting her chin on his chest, she peered up at him. "John….?"

"Hmm."

He looked down at her and since their faces seemed already so close, Mary lifted up her chin a little more and kissed him. John figured that this was her wordless way of apologizing, although he still felt like there was something he should be sorry about too. Maybe he'd never know now what had made her snap.

The couple was too occupied to hear in the background, the sound of the front door opening and incoming voices. Logan was definitely aware with his acute senses, and the fact that the people, being three, Bobby's folks and his younger brother Ronnie, walked directly into the room where Logan was and paused conversation at the sight of him.

From upstairs came the rush of feet, as Bobby and Rogue hurried down. There was a pause in conversation from outside the living room, and Mary pushed away from John pushed as people started to walk in. Of course, Bobby's mother got another start at the sight of Mary's hair.


	15. An Interesting Discussion, The M Word

**A/N: I have no excuse. I've had this chap written on paper for weeks. I was just too lazy to type it up. Sorry! **

---

One awkward moment slipped into an awkward silence, and no one seemed too comfortable in the small cozy living room of the Drake's home.

On one couch sat, Madeline Drake and Ronnie, Bobby's nervous looking brother. This was the couch that Mary had been lying on and Mrs Drake was starting to realize that it was wet in places. Mr Drake sat a few steps away on the hearth. Bobby and Rogue sat on a backless cushioned seat, which joined with the couch to form an 'L' shape. John was further away from the group and leaning against the wall, opening and closing his lighter lid curiously. Logan stood in the doorway to the kitchen. His arms were crossed and he looked less amused. Mary was sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up and her arms wrapped around her legs. As she was sitting across from Ronnie, it was only natural that they two would begin to stare at each other. Ronnie seemed thrown by her hair, but the looks Mary returned weren't so friendly.

"So…" began Madeline, breaking the silence with a question that wasn't much better. "When did you first know you were a…a…"

"A mutant?" finished John, raising his eyebrows, still flicking his Zippo.

Mary turned her head to stare at John, then back at Mrs Drake. Clearly the woman had no idea about anything mutant or she would have known that the signs first start appearing in the early teen years.

"Would you cut that out!?" asked the mother. She didn't look too pleased.

John gave her a challenging look and after one last flick, click, he closed the lighter for good.

Mr Drake decided to speak up. "You have to understand…we thought Bobby was going to a school for the gifted."

Rogue jumped in. "Bobby is gifted!"

"We know that," replied William quickly. "We just didn't realize he was--"

"We still love you Bobby!" said Madeline, interrupting. It was as though she didn't want to hear the M-word again.

Mary began picking at the carpet. Her mind was jumping to everyone in the room, keeping a mental tab of their current emotional status. Ronnie's interested her. She stared at him and found he was staring at her. He narrowed his eyes and looked away.

At the words 'mutant problem', Mary looked up. She noticed Logan has become a bit more involved in the conversation, for now Mr Drake asked him in a haughty tone. "What exactly are you professor of, Mr Logan?"

Logan took no time in answering. "Art."

Mary smirked and looked at John. He wore a similar yet amused expression.

"You should see what Bobby can do!" piped up Rogue, as though not wanting Bobby to be forgotten as the center of attention. John frowned. He never liked to watch Bobby show off, but the expressions on the Drakes' faces when Bobby froze his mother's tea (which she'd needed for her nerves) were priceless. The family cat, which Madeline had been petting, jumped up on the coffee table and began to lick the tea.

Suddenly, Ronnie stood up and ran exited the room, running up the stairs. His mother called after him. Mary shook her head. She had a bad feeling… John rolled his eyes. Ronnie was probably just jealous.

"This is all my fault," muttered Madeline, shaking her head.

In an informative voice, John said, "Actually, they discovered that makes are the ones who carry the mutant gene and pass it on." He pointed at Bobby's father. "So, it's his fault." Mr Drake glared at him. John smirked.

There was a strange silence. Bobby kept looking towards the stairs, obviously wondering about Ronnie. Something started beeping. Everyone looked around, puzzled; including Logan who finally realized that what was beeping was the com device he'd picked up in Scott's car. "Oh…uh...it's for me…" he noted, stating the obvious. Logan left the room.

Mary stared at the floor again, wondering what could happen next.

"Bobby…" It was his mother. "Have you tried….not being a mutant?"

Pyro raised his eyebrows and shook his head. The woman was obviously not to tactful with the ability of asking questions. Bobby didn't seem to know how to answer, making the silence more uncomfortable.

Luckily, at this moment Logan rushed back in only instructing their immediate leave. Happy to be gone, Mary jumped right up. Rogue seemed to protest and Logan only bellowed, "NOW!" at her.

Mary and Pyro followed the others out of the front door, leaving Mr and Mrs Drake in their living room, baffled. Only the scene that greeted the mutants on the front lawn was not so friendly.

* * *

_ ((To be continued, yeh… I know it ends in an awkward place))_


	16. More Than a Heated Disagreement

"Drop the knives and put your hands in the air!" Were the first words directed at them.

Cops and their cars filled the street beyond, and the front lawn. All guns pointed at Logan and the three teens. Logan had extended his claws, which the current male policeman had mistaken for knives.

Mary's eyes were wide, and she kept looking back and forth at guns pointing in their direction. Somewhere from inside the house came the sound of breaking glass.

"What's going on here?" asked Logan.

Pyro's heart was beating fast. He'd never been a situation like this before.

"Ronnie…" said Bobby regretfully. Mary nodded. It did make sense. Ronnie had seemed pretty unnerved about the mutants from the very start. She sighed.

"Drop the knives!" yelled the policeman again.

"This is just a misunderstanding…" said Logan. He sounded very calm in this situation.

"Put the knives down!" yelled the man again, sounding more frantic. Mary wondered how brave these police actually were, and as she reached out to feel their auras. What were they thinking? They were…scared.

Logan turned his head to look at the man. "I can't," he raised a hand to point and started to say, "Now, look—" His words were cut short when a bullet suddenly flew towards his head, striking him dead center in the forehead. Rogue shrieked, and Wolverine's body fell to the ground.

Mary gasped. She hadn't expected that to happen. These police meant business then.

"Alright. The rest of you, on the ground, NOW!" demanded the officer. He didn't seem too confident though. It was like he hadn't expected to shoot Logan either.

Bobby and Rogue did as they were told and lowered themselves to the ground, lying on their stomachs. Mary stood defiantly with Pyro, as he continued to stare in disbelief at the cop who'd just shot Logan. Mary was pulling at the bottom of her hoodie a bit nervously, but knowing the police's fear seemed to ease it a bit.

Mary looked around and saw a female officer nearby, also poised to shoot. Mary swallowed and began to lower herself, but only into a kneeling position. Out of the corner of his eye, John noticed this, but he kept his ground.

"Look kid, I said, on the ground!" The policeman seemed anxious.

"We don't want to hurt you kid!" said the police woman.

Mary looked up at Pyro, tugging lightly on the leg of his pants. She didn't want him to get hurt. He glanced down at her and shook his head. Chest still heaving, John began to speak, "You know all those dangerous mutants you hear about on the news?" He took out his Zippo and flicked it open. Mary's eyes widened, remembering the mall. "I'm the worst one." And with that, Pyro enlarged the flames and shot it at the policeman. Mary felt the heat in the air, and backed up as Pyro sent more flames towards the police woman and back through the door of the house.

Sirens sounded in the air as reinforcements arrived. Pyro had already begun to set alight the cars on the lawn and in the street. The whole place was an inferno. Mary sensed in Pyro, pride, sheer glee. Next to her, she noticed that Rogue had began to take off one of her gloves.

The girls' eyes met for a moment, then Rogue reached over and grabbed Pyro's ankle. His powers began to fade. Pyro suddenly felt weak, and his control over the flames began to stop. He wondered what was wrong with him. Why couldn't he breathe? The flames soon were extinguished and John was doubled over, breathing heavily.

Around this time, the air began to whip around and Mary looked up into sky and noticed a jet making a landing. She placed a hand on John's shoulder, trying to help him up. Rogue had by now let go of Pyro. The four mutants stood up. John glared at Rogue, but she didn't seem to respond.

Pyro placed his lighter away and grabbed Mary's hand. She gave him a supportive smile, but soon it was replaced with confused wonder as Logan gradually stood back up. Logan glanced back at the teams, Pyro gave him a sheepish, half-smile.

Not wanting to wait any longer, Bobby started off towards the jet, but was soon left standing in the lawn staring back at his home. As Mary passed him, she placed a hand on his arm, giving him a sympathetic look then continued onto the jet, which had now come to a park and had opened for them to board.

Once on board, she smiled when she saw Storm, and ran to greet her. Pyro walked slowly, but was q bit startled by the appearance of a certain blue mutant.

"Guten tag," it greeted. The teens just gave him odd looks and quickly found their seats.

As Mary walked back down the aisle from speaking to Storm, she smiled at Kurt and he grinned at her. She took a seat behind him.

"Who the hell is this?" asked Logan, about the blue man.

"Kurt Wagner, but in the Munich circus, I was known at the Incredible Nightcrawler," he introduced.

"Cool," commented Mary, but Logan answered in a less interested away, "Yeah, save it. Storm?"

"We're out of here!" she announced.

As the engines began to start, Pyro sighed and shrunk down in his seat. At least they were safe now. He wondered if he'd done the right thing. At least he'd gotten his message across. He'd shown them what kind of power he had, and maybe had impressed Mary. He glanced back at her, but she was staring at Bobby who seemed to be gazing out of the window. Jerk, he thought. He'd brought it upon himself by telling his parents.

The jet was of a special design and one of a kind. As soon as it had lifted a considerable height off the ground, it took off through the air, thrusting the passengers back in their seat a little. John shut his eyes wanting to rest a little, but it wouldn't last for long.

* * *

**A/N: I stopped it in another random place. Okay…it seems a bit boring right now, but I just need to get certain scenes out of the way. I'm not skipping anything out. Thank you for your patience. ((If you spotted any mistakes in the chapter, I'm sorry.))  
**


	17. The Fall

Sweeping blue hair back away from her face, Mary glanced around the plane at the other passengers. Each looked a bit pale and definitely bored. She turned back to Kurt who was sitting in front of her and tapped him on the shoulder.

"So what are you doing in America?" she asked. Kurt grinned, turning around in his seat to look at her, and then answered, "I could ask the same of you."

Mary laughed. Her Scottish accent had not yet been tainted by the Americans around her, quite like Kurt's German accent which made him stand out considerably (not to mention his blue skin, but that was a whole different matter!)

"I am just going to Xavier's school, that's all," she said as simply as can be. She was just an innocent student, was the story she was trying to get across.

The two had been conversing quite grandly ever since they stepped on the plane, as though nothing traumatic had just happened. All the other passengers were somewhat solemn, and a few like Pyro were getting annoyed that the two Europeans seemed the most complacent.

"You mean you were," piped up John, in an irritable tone. He might've been a bit jealous of all the attention that Kurt was receiving from Mary. Hadn't she found his fire display to be amazing!?

Mary and Kurt looked up towards John. Everyone else in the confined space seemed to pause what they were doing too. Bobby stopped staring out the window and focused his eyes on John.

John continued, now that he'd gotten everyone's attention. "Do you really think we can go back?" John paused a moment to let this thought sink in. Bobby didn't even have a home to return to if the school was no longer functioning. It would be the same story for most other mutants at the school. Without Xavier's they had no place to belong.

"John…don't you think you've contributed enough today without more of your pessimistic comments?" snapped Bobby, to people's surprise. He was obviously still very much shaken up by his visit home.

John scowled at Bobby and continued clicking the top of his lighter. For a moment, his and Mary's eyes met. She seemed to have a trace of worry, but then turned back to Kurt and quietly kept up their conversation.

John sighed, frustrated at himself, wondering why he wasn't the object of Mary's interest. What'd he done wrong? Why did he even care? He never used to care…did he?

Others on the plane seemed to be getting just as restless. Logan leant forward in his seat to lean on the back of Jean's and asked. "How far are we now?"

"We're actually coming up on the mansion now."

Pyro paused his eavesdropping for a moment, imagining the mansion being a pile of smouldering lumber by now. Ironic. Then suddenly, Storm said in an urgent voice, "I've got two signals in fast!"

As a woman's voice began to speak over the radio, everyone in the small X Jet, stopped what they were doing, and stared wide eyed at the front of the pit.

"Unidentified aircraft you are ordered to descend to 20000 feet. Return with out escort to Hanscom Air Force Base. You have 10 seconds to comply."

Mary's eyebrows raised and pressed back into her seat.

"Wow, someone's angry," commented Storm.

"I wonder why." Logan glares at Pyro, who scowls back, without much to say in his defense. If this was his fault, then he'd gotten everyone in danger.

The woman on the radio continued: "We are coming up alongside you to escort you to Hanscom air force base. Lower your altitude now."

Mary moved her legs up to her seat and wrapped her arms around them protectively, making herself small, or at least she tried. Over the aisle and next to her, was Rogue who looked like a deer in headlights. Lost and confused.

The woman on the radio ordered once more for their altitude to be lowered. A last warning. A few seconds later, Storm noted that they were falling back.

"They're marking us!" said Storm, concerned.

"What?" asked Logan.

"They're going to fire! Hang on!" ordered Strom, speeding up their jet. Logan flew back into his seat and Mary began swearing under her breath. She'd had dealings with the cops before, but nothing mid air. She felt so helpless, like she had no where to run.

As the jet shot across the sky, everyone (if they hadn't before) was strapping on seatbelts. Mary held on tightly to the straps covering her chest. Rogue was still fumbling.

"I gotta shake 'em," said Storm, then without warning, their jet turned upside down.

"Please don't do that again," requested John. He wasn't normally car or air sick, but their were definite limits to what he could stand.

"I agree," said Logan.

Kurt was probably the only one who hadn't been jolted by that sudden moved. He was used to bamfing, after all.

Mary gazed out the window by her side, letting all other noise fade away, and even so…darkness soon surrounded the jet and suddenly Mary spotted tornados outside. Possibly hundreds. As the course gets bumpy, Mary had to look away. She shut her eyes.

"Everybody okay back there?" asked Jean. Everyone nodded except for Mary who wasn't even able to open her eyes yet. Wolverine answered a blunt, "No!"

But it would only get worse. A beeping noise from the radar…they'd been fired at.

"Oh my god, there's two of them…" breathed Storm.

Pyro felt scared. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew he wasn't the only one. He wanted to glance back at Bobby to get his expression, but he found he couldn't even move. He was really starting to regret his actions. But…

Jean destroyed one missile with her powers, but one remained. And before she could summon up her powers to stop it…it had collided with the back end of their jet. A strong suction of air occurred, sucking out any loose items. Mary felt her body being pulled out, but luckily her seat belt was well secure. Rogue wasn't so lucky.

Out she went.

"Shit!" Mary swore loudly, but it was drowned out by the sounds of malfunctioning plane.

Bobby began yelling. Wolverine held him done. Pyro didn't know what was going on, but he felt like his face was going to be ripped off.

In less than a second, a cloud of blue smoke appeared where Kurt had been sitting, as he bamfed outside to retrieve Rogue, and then… he was back again, further up in the pit, holding her down safely.

Kurt may have been praying, and everyone else's lives were flashing before their eyes.

The back end of the plane slowly began to repair itself. The suction stopped, and Mary was able to catch her breath again.

"Jean?" questioned Storm.

"It's not me…" replied the redhead.

Miraculously, the jet was slowing down. Then it stopped- in midair.

It took a while for people to adjust, but when they focused and looked outside the main front window of the jet…there was Magneto and Mystique grinning up at them.

* * *

**OOC: This isn't really a good chapter. I'm out of it. Sorry. I just wanted you all to know that I have NOT forgotten about this fic. I've just been lazy. So after four months of waiting……I'm sorry.**


	18. Safe?

_A/N: Sometimes I just can't write…and my X-Menness has worn off. Also, things are really hectic right now in my life. I really like this fic but I have the advantage of already knowing the ending…but, since you don't I will not abandon my readers like that! Sorry for the spazzyness. This fic may take even longer. Also…I did not even check for spelling mistakes so….let's see what fun typos I make today!_

* * *

**Chapter 18**

Nature was not Pyro's best friend- on many levels. One, he was fire. Forest and fire have never been a good mix unless you're some kind of arsonist. John was not an arsonist, although his display back at the Drake's house could lead someone to wonder. The second reason was that John had never gotten to experience the "bonding" time of a father-son camping trip, unlike Bobby who was staring wistfully up at the trees.

The boys were supposed to be collecting firewood.

The mutants had been on the ground for a couple of hours already. Rogue still seemed to be in shock, as anyone would almost falling to their death, the others like Logan and Jean were too busy eyeing Magneto and Mystique than dwell on their near-death experience. Besides, Jean didn't really want to talk about her random failure of power.

John kicked a pile of rotting leaves up into the air. Bobby, who apparently was a little more high-strung than usual suddenly snapped, "John, stop your messing around and get to work!"

John shrugged, sending Bobby an unfriendly hand gesture over his shoulder. He didn't have enough energy to fire back a witty remark to his icy companion. Besides, Bobby had stopped collecting sticks a few trees ago. He had no reason to be bitching and making accusations.

With a few sticks in hand, John began walking back to the temporary camp that the others had been setting up. On his mind was Mary. He hadn't seen her get off the plane. He'd rushed out quickly only because he was about to be sick. That wouldn't have been the most romantic greeting for them.

'_Why am I so worried about her all the time?'_ he asked himself. This "love" thing was a weakness John still wasn't sure he was ready to accept. Frustrated by his thoughts, John kicked up a few more leaves.

"John…" came a quiet voice.

The pyro turned around. It was Bobby again, but the boy's expression had changed. He looked…broken, ragged, weak.

Pyro felt a bit uncomfortable. He wasn't used to seeing Bobby like this. Pyro even forgot to take advantage of the situation by making a snarky comment. Pyro was stunned and caught off guard, so he answered in a mildly concerned tone. "Yeah?"

Bobby approached John very slowly. He opened his mouth. John waited, raising his eyebrows slightly. But Bobby didn't say another word, instead, he sent an icy stream of frosty air at Pyro, then stormed of with his armful of sticks.

Pyro swore loudly. He'd let his guard down. He'd tried to be caring and it'd only backfired on him. Bobby would pay for that; someday. Pyro thought about Mary again. Would she ever do this to him, after all the effort he made trying to get over himself and show her love? This was the reason he stayed away from people. Pyro decided to dawdle around the forest a bit more before returning to the camp. Setting his collected sticks on the ground, Pyro took out his lighter…

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the camp there was one particular blue-haired mutant who hadn't yet come off the plane.

Falling.  
The scene had played over and over in her mind. She felt weightless and surreal. The feeling of utter helplessness and impending death did not come often to Mary.

When Magneto had gently set their jet to Earth, everyone had trailed out; some more shaken than others. Rogue hadn't let go of Kurt and Bobby had stomped off. Pyro also had disappeared quite quickly, probably not wishing for anyone to see him in his shakey-limbed state. The older mutants had rushed out to see what Magneto was up to, but Mary had stayed put in her seat, staring blankly at the back of the seat in front of her.

A half hour later, Storm had popped in and offered the girl some encouragement.

_"Doing okay, hun?"_

_Mary began to shake her head, but stopped and nodded instead._

_"Some of us are going to start setting up camp…you know, until the jet is fully functional." Ororo paused and gave warm smile that almost made the girl feel somewhat safe. But Ororo didn't know what words to say and so giving Mary a quick hug, she left the jet._

Mary sighed. That'd been hours ago, or so it seemed. She wondered what everyone was now doing.

"Mary," said a voice all of a sudden. She might have noticed the figure approach if she'd been paying any attention though. Mary turned her head slightly and saw that it was now Logan walking towards her with an armful of tarps and other tent-like equipment. She wondered how long he'd been standing there and whether he'd been watching her agitated movements.

"What?" she asked slowly.

"Are you hungry?" asked Wolverine, a bit uncertain with himself. He was supposed to be a guide and example for these kids, and what had he done so far? All he'd really shown off was violence…sometimes he figured that was all he was good for. Logan didn't know how to handle the situation and knew that whatever the case Mary was definitely not like Rogue.

Mary had time to think about it before answering. "A little."

"They've started up a campfire, and are going to be…cooking some of the emergency food stock."

Mary nodded.

Logan sighed and left the jet quickly. Mary wanted to follow. She needed a new environment and suddenly missed her friends, Kitty and Jubilee. Where were they? Mary shivered, she'd almost forgotten about the whole invasion that was the cause of all these current problems. She'd blocked it out, but it couldn't remain hidden forever.

Mary was staring concernedly at the ceiling when two strong arms picked her up. She exclaimed loudly as anyone would, but it was only Logan again. He lifted her out of her seat and began walking her off the plane. "No more moping, kid," he said in a gruff voice.

Mary sighed in defeat, but was a little happy that someone had finally taken initiative. So stopping her squirming, she let herself be carried off the jet.

* * *

_**to be continued…..eventually**_


End file.
